Evolution
by Sailor-Scout-of-Darkness
Summary: Sailor Moon's powers have evolved to a dangerous level. When she runs away, and finds a friend with the same power, will she be able to trust her? What about the Scouts and Darien?
1. Chapter 1

I do not own Sailor Moon. I changed around the story a little bit—their ages, about the crystals, and about when they first found out they were scouts.

Serena—17 (Senior in High School)

Lita, Mina, Raye, Amy—16 (Junior in High School)

Darien—20 (Sophomore in College)

**EVOLUTION**

**Chapter 1—The Beginning**

Serena was lying on the grass. She was wearing the tracksuit from her school. Today, Serena had gotten up at four in the morning to run. She had been on the track team for just under two months. Part of the rules to remain in it had been to run two hours each morning. She absolutely hated it. But oh well, what can you do? She had already finished running and was just lying on the grass of the park. It felt wonderful to just relax. There had been so many monsters lately. It was like they just planned on waiting until she had been asleep for an hour.

"Wake up, Serena." It was Luna. When Serena said that she had joined the track team, Luna was the key factor that had kept her on it.

"Oh…Luna…I'm tired. The stupid monster didn't even let me go to bed last night." Serena's alarm clock rings at three forty-five, so that Serena is up, dressed, and out the door by four. The monster had attacked at three. She had gone to bed at two because of homework. Now that she was a senior in high school, she literally had no time. There was never enough time in the day to do everything. "Life was so much easier when I first found out I was Sailor Moon."

"You were also only in ninth grade. And you weren't on the track team which means that you didn't have to worry about your grades." Luna nudged Serena again when she noticed that the tired girl had fallen asleep. Luna climbed up on Serena's stomach. She had been so proud of the girl when she said that she had joined the track team. Now though it was always difficult for her to do anything else. Darien had actually commented the other day that he hardly ever even saw Serena anymore. She started skipping her daily milkshake when she had joined the track team; she had nearly cut out all junk food! Any time she had to spare, Serena tried to spend it with her friends, but somehow the time was always cut short. Luna laid her head down and let Serena sleep for a little while.

Serena was dreaming even before Luna's last word.

_She was standing on a dock. It was absolutely gorgeous around her. The trees had just started to lose their leaves for the winter. Neither the scouts nor Darien was with her. It was so peaceful. _

_ Serena looked up towards the sky and was amazed to see a very close full moon. It looked dangerously close. Startled she looked at the water. Instead of peaceful and serene like it was, it was instead overflowing and rapid. A black light shown down from the sky._

_ "Serena…" It was a woman's voice. Instead of being concerned though, Serena felt a comfort. She looked up towards the sky, and—_

"Serena, there's a monster in the park." Serena awoke with a start; Luna falling off her chest. Serena put her head into her hands and groaned. Someday she was going to be able to get a full night's sleep.

"Serena, transform now, while no one is around us."

"Moon…Cosmic…Power!" Within seconds Serena was Sailor Moon. She ran in the direction of the girls.

"Hey, how did you get here so fast?" Sailor Mars asked astonished to see her. No one else had even gotten there yet.

"How did you know there was a monster?" Sailor Moon asked, avoiding a tentacle of the ugly monster. The thing was atrocious! It had six tentacles and two hands. It was an ugly green color; while its face looked like a humans, there was no doubt in Serena's mind that it had to be the ugliest she had ever seen. And that's saying something!

"I was meditating, and its face appeared in the fire. I came down here to see if it was now or later. Apparently…" She didn't go any further. Sailor Moon grabbed her tiara and shot it towards the monster. When it hit a tentacle, Sailor Moon and Mars rejoiced, but it was too early, and it only increased the monster's anger.

"I'm not sure I should have done that." Sailor Moon said, backing away from the monster who was advancing towards her.

"Mars…Fire…Ignite!" Mars shot her fire attack, and also backed away. "This is insane! We need the other scouts really badly!"

Just as Mars said that, Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter came running. Upon seeing their friends backing away from the monsters, they all shot out their attacks.

"Mercury Bubbles!" Bubbles surrounded one of the tentacles going for Sailor Moon.

"Sparkling Wide Pressure!" Thunder destroyed the tentacle going straight towards Sailor Mars.

"Venus Love-Me Chain!" Her chain wrapped around two tentacles.

"It didn't even do anything!" Mars was outraged. All of their attacks, and not even one tentacle was cut. All they had done was make the creature angrier.

"Does it have a weakness, Mercury?" Jupiter screamed.

"I'm looking. I'm look—" Before Mercury could shout out what she had learned, one of the tentacles wrapped around her middle, pinning her arms to her sides.

"Mercury!" The scouts yelled all at once. Jupiter made a move to help her, but another tentacle grabbed her. It hoisted her twelve feet above the ground.

"Sailor Moon, look out!" Sailor Moon got tackled by Tuxedo Mask, just as a tentacle was about to get her. "Are you okay?" He asked as he got off of her. He was just about to stand up when a tentacle got him. Sailor Moon tried to get up, but she too got wrapped in a tentacle. Sailor Mars and Sailor Venus were soon in the same position.

Wondering how they were going to get loose, Sailor Moon was lifted into the air and brought close to the monster.

"So you are the one they are looking for." The monster said. She had a raspy voice that made Sailor Moon shiver.

"Who's looking for me?" She just barely managed to ground out the words. The monster was squeezing her middle too tightly.

"The council…" The monster said. She shook her head in disgust.

"I don't know of any council." At her words, the monster tossed Sailor Moon around, hitting her into various trees and the ground. While she was flying through the air, she could hear the Scouts and Tuxedo Mask yelling for her. The last time she was hit, she knew that she wouldn't be able to take much more. The monster pulled her tentacle in closer. The tentacle loosened, leaving Sailor Moon to believe that it was going to want a fair fight.

She was wrong.

The monster had let Serena's middle go, but she used her hand, with un-human strength, to grip Sailor Moon's neck, shutting off her air supply. As Sailor Moon struggled, the monster tightened its grip. She could barely breathe anymore. She transformed back into Serena. She heard more screams from her friends in her subconscious. The monster was saying something, but she couldn't tell the words. She was losing oxygen!

**Sailor Moon**

Tuxedo Mask watched helplessly as his love was strangled. He had watched as she was beat up, thrown around, and now…now she was getting strangled. He knew that she couldn't breathe, and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it. He struggled as much as he could, but the monster's tentacles only tightened around him.

"Serena, don't fall asleep." It was Mercury. He looked towards the girl. She too, along with every other Scout, was trapped by the tentacles. He looked down at the tentacle holding him; he tried to step on it, but his foot wasn't pushing down hard enough. He had barely any energy.

_Serena, come on, baby…keep fighting, come on, baby._ Darien thought, praying she would hold on, just until they got loose.

Buzz.

Buzz.

Buzz.

Darien looked at the others to see if they had heard the strange noise too. Apparently they had too. Everyone was looking around, trying to figure out where it was coming from. Finally Jupiter figured it out because she was the closest to Serena.

"It's Serena…She's making the noise." They all looked towards Serena. Her eyes were still open, but her head was lulled back, looking straight into the sky. Her lips, partially open, had started to turn blue, but they were moving too. They made words that no one understood, senseless words that had a power on the monster.

The earth started to shake. The monster loosened her hold on everyone, except Serena.

"Stop saying that!" The monster shouted. "It can't help you, and they would never interfere." Serena continued to say the words. White light appeared all around them suddenly. It was so bright that it nearly blinded them. Then they all had the sensation that they were falling.

**Sailor Moon**

They must have passed out. Yes…that was what had happened; they had all passed out. The monster was dead; something had killed it. Tuxedo Mask, transform back, got up and looked around him. Sailor Mercury was calculating the size of the earthquake on her computer. Mars was helping Venus and Jupiter up. _Where's Serena?_ Darien looked around for her. He didn't see her.

"Where's Serena?" Darien screamed his thought. Everyone stopped what they were doing. They started looking around. They noticed the fog then. It was covering the walkway. They started to move, this time carefully, just in case Serena was still sleeping—like they knew she was. Darien felt bad for her; he knew that she was barely getting any sleep at all. The monsters were like an everyday occurrence too. He was barely getting any sleep. He wasn't sure about the girls, but from the dark circles under their eyes, they weren't getting much either.

"I found her!" It was Sailor Jupiter. She was kneeling not five feet ahead of where Darien was standing.

"Is she all right?" Darien knelt next to her to examine her for himself. She was lying on her stomach, still passed out. Her lips were still a little purple, but he knew she was breathing. There were bruises on her neck from where the monster had gripped her. Nothing was out of place other than that though. Darien had felt her pulse strong and steady. It merely looked like she was sleeping.

"Do you guys remember a buzzing sound?" It was Raye. Darien looked around him, everyone had already transformed back into their human forms. He hadn't been looking at Serena that long—had he?

"Yeah, it sounded like it was coming from Serena." Lita looked towards the unconscious girl, trying to decide if she was wearing a cell phone or anything. Darien shook his head when he realized what she was looking for.

"Check her heart!" Everyone turned, coming full speed towards them was Luna and Artemis.

"Where have you guys been?" Mina turned on the cats.

Luna shook her head, then repeated, "check her heart."

"Why?" Darien asked.

"Just do it!" Luna said it so forcefully, that everyone stared at her. She wasn't going to apologize though. She had a feeling of what it was, but she couldn't be sure unless someone checked her heart.

Darien finally did it. He knew that she wouldn't mind him taking off her shirt; he'd already done it on a couple occasions. He grinned, then quickly shook it off. _Get your mind out of the gutter, Shields._ No one around them, if there had been anyone around them at six in the morning, would have seen anything. He lowered the undershirt she was wearing so he could check the skin.

"Oh…my…" He touched the massive bruise that was already formed on her chest. She didn't have a broken sternum or any broken ribs, but whatever had hit her there left a large mark. "What hit her in the chest?"

Everyone racked their brains. They went over the fight again and again in their heads.

"Nothing hit her, Darien. She was tossed around, but never was she hit in the stomach." Lita answered his question.

"Raye," Amy started, "you were both here before us, did she get hit then?"

Raye thought about it for a second. "No, she didn't get hit at all, until she got captured by the monster."

"Why are you shaking your head, Luna?" Mina had been the one staring at the cats. As soon as Darien had asked the question, Luna had started shaking her head.

"It was the crystal," answered Artemis.

"What are you talking about?"

"The crystal…When Serena is Sailor Moon, the crystal rests just above her heart; it shares power with her heart. The crystal killed the monster."

"But Serena wasn't Sailor Moon when the monster was destroyed."

Artemis nodded. "Her powers are evolving."

* * *

How was it? Constructive criticism is always welcome.


	2. Chapter 2

I do not own Sailor Moon.

**EVOLUTION**

**CHAPTER 2—THE AWAKENING**

"What do you mean her powers are evolving?" Darien looked down at his love. This had never happened before. There had to be a mistake, maybe they had just missed something. Maybe they had all blinked at the same time. Maybe it was from a different battle. Yes, that was it! It was from a different battle. That was the only possible explanation. Powers don't evolve in the blink of an eye. They had fought a monster that very morning at three and her powers were normal. Two and a half hours later, they had suddenly evolved? There was no way. "How would you know anyways? You weren't anywhere near the fight."

"Something happened when she was transforming. It was like she transported me to another time."

"What?" Raye was flipping out. Serena had sent Luna to another time? This entire thing wasn't making the tiniest bit of sense.

"Yes. I don't know how she did it, but she did. There was a story on the moon, that only once had the crystal ever been that powerful. It was when Stella, Queen of the Moon, was fighting with the council. The foe she was facing was so strong that she unintentionally caused the crystal to gain power."

"What happened to her?" Mina asked.

"The crystal caused a blinding white light to fill the area. With the light, an earthquake came that was so strong it shook down the buildings in the nearest five cities all within a one hundred mile radius. Along with the buildings though, it destroyed the entire army that was coming up against her. When they found her, she was unconscious, like Serena. Another similarity is that she had a rather large bruise in the center of her chest. She never woke up out of her coma."

Darien grabbed Serena and held her to his chest.

"What was the foe that was so hard?"

"It was the Anneaux Empire. They were ruled by a herculean king for the major part of the reign. For one hundred sixty years, he reigned making sure that everyone and anyone was afraid of him. They hadn't started to let up, until the king was brutally murdered in his own bed one night. Because of that his son, a coward and lowest form of man, took over. The armies were stronger than anyone thought though, so it took the Council's entire power to defeat him. When Stella did it, she did it completely. No one from the Anneaux Empire was ever found."

"You keep mentioning a council. The monster today said that 'the Council' is looking for Serena. What is the council exactly?"

"The Council is only the shortened name of the group. In its entirety, the name is the Inter-Galactical Defense. So far there have only been four meetings for it: the first with Stella, the second with King Richard, and the last two with Queen Serenity. If the council is meeting again, then that means that there is something big happening, something that is stronger than normal."

"Which would explain Serena's powers…" Everyone looked at the girl cuddled in Darien's embrace. He held on to her tighter, never wanting to let her go.

Ding!

Jumping, everyone looked towards Amy. Apparently she had just figured out what the monster was. She typed a few things onto her computer then stared in shock at the facts.

"What? What is it?" Raye asked, incessantly.

"The earthquake was a eight on the Richter Scale. According to this, it destroyed five small buildings and three schools."

"Did anyone die?"

"Thirty people." Everyone looked towards the girl that was sleeping in Darien's arms. They didn't understand how she had caused an earthquake that big. "That's not it, you guys." Amy waited until everyone looked at her before continuing. "The moon is fifty feet closer to earth."

**Sailor Moon**

Serena started to stir hours after the attack. It was almost night out. She didn't understand where she was though—or how she had gotten there. She remembered running through the park, then Raye called about the monster. After that it was kind of a blur. She remembered getting caught by it and thrown around, but that was it. She didn't remember defeating the monster, or how she had gotten to where she had been sleeping.

She was scared to get up. What if whoever had caught her was a psychopath? What if it was an enemy of Sailor Moon? She knew she wasn't making any sense, but she didn't care. She rolled over when she heard footsteps outside the door. That was when she smelled him. _Darien_. The pillows and the sheets smelled like Darien. She sat up and looked around the bedroom. Things were missing, essential things like lamps and pictures. _Darien…what is going on? Why did you…_ Serena's thoughts came to an abrupt halt when she heard the television.

She quietly walked out of Darien's room and down the hallway. In the living room sat, Raye, Mina, Lita, Amy, and Darien watching the television.

"…joining us today is astronomer OTOMO Satoru. Thank you for joining us today," the newscaster said to the scientist. The old guy nodded politely. "Today, after the earthquake and the astonishing bright light a new fact was found out, can you tell us this fact?"

"Actually, through thorough investigation from every side of the globe, we have discovered that the moon has indeed moved fifty feet closer to the earth."

"Fifty feet though? That doesn't seem like a whole lot. Would it mess with anything?"

"Most definitely. Even one inch would mess with the tides. Fifty feet would destroy small cities because of flooding…" The scientist went on to talk about other things, but the girls and Darien started talking first.

"Do you think she really could have done it?" Amy asked quietly.

"I don't know, but until Serena wakes up, we won't be able to know." Serena hadn't seen Luna or Artemis, but apparently they were there too. Serena suddenly understood what had happened. She had done it, but how—how had she done it?

"I don't think she could have caused that earthquake either."

"She may not have intentionally caused it, but she was dying. By the time the earthquake happened, she was already suffering from lack of oxygen." Darien said smoothly.

"We know she would never kill anybody on purpose either though, and the earthquake killed thirty." Raye said. The argument continued to go on, but Serena had heard enough. As quietly as she could, she tiptoed back to Darien's room. She closed the door and walked over to the window. She could see the damage now. Buildings had fallen; people had died—all because of her. All because she couldn't control the power her mother had bestowed to her. _I'm a failure._

Serena transformed into Sailor Moon and opened the window. She hadn't yelled when she transformed, so she didn't think her friends would be following her anytime soon, but she still wasn't sure. Hopping out the window, Sailor Moon jumped from building to building until she was in the park yet again.

She was running the entire way, only stopping when she got to where the monster was.

_"Stop saying that! _The monster had said. _"It can't help you, and they would never interfere." _Surely she really hadn't caused the earthquake and the moon coming closer. _Why did this happen?_

Suddenly a new thought popped into her head. She assumed that she had defeated the monster all by herself, but what if she had hurt her friends? What if it got out of control and she did it again? The earthquake had already killed thirty people, what if the next time it happened, she killed more people? Could she live with herself? What if one of her friends was one of the ones killed?

She shook her head. No! She was never going to put her friends in that kind of danger ever again. What if they needed Sailor Moon again? She thought about it a little longer. No, she wasn't going to fight anymore. She could talk to her parents about switching schools maybe. So that way she wouldn't have to see them.

Seeing people coming up towards her, she transformed back and walked in the direction of her house. Maybe they would see that she was miserable and wouldn't give a second thought about letting her switch schools. Or maybe not. Her thoughts ran along these lines until she saw her house not to far in the distance. She needed to go home and lie in her bed for the rest of the night. She ran until she got to the door, pausing there only so she could calm her breathing. She opened the door loudly to tell them she was home.

"Hello, Serena. How was school?" Her mom, yelled from the kitchen. In the living room, she saw her dad and Sammy watching television.

"Um..." Serena had totally forgotten that she hadn't gone to school. _Darn it, now what am I going to do? Might as well play it up, Serena._ "Fine."

"That's good. Dinner will be ready in ten minutes, so—"

"I'm not hungry, Mom. I'm just tired, I'm gonna go lie down." Before her mom could make it out of the kitchen, Serena ran upstairs and slammed her door shut.

"Did she just say that she wasn't hungry?" She heard Sammy ask.

"Yeah, maybe she's not feeling well, Ikuko." Her dad yelled to her mom. _That's it! I can pretend to be sick, until they listen to reason. They know I'm always hungry, so maybe a little food strike is the answer._

"I'm too tired to think about this right now," Serena muttered before taking a flying leap onto her bed. She laid on her back looking at the ceiling, when suddenly she thought that if any of her friends came to her house, they would know where she was. Quickly she locked the window, and just to make sure that it would stay shut, she put a wooden blocker there. She didn't think that it was enough though. She grabbed a dark blanket from her closet and stapled it to the wall surrounding the window. It was on so tight that she wouldn't get any light from her window at all. In fact she had to reload her stapler four times because she used so many.

When she felt comfortable enough to leave her window like that, she laid back down on the bed and cried herself to sleep.

**Sailor Moon**

Darien hadn't felt her transform right away. In fact it was five minutes before he felt it. Jumping up from his couch, he ran towards his bedroom, the last place he had seen Serena. He threw open the door, but the bed was empty. He looked around the room, praying that maybe he had just over looked her. As soon as he saw the window, he knew. The curtains were billowing in the wind.

"She's gone!" Finally his voice connected with his thoughts. He heard the girls and Luna and Artemis running towards the room. They looked into the room and were also convinced.

"You have to find her," Luna said, her worry evident in her voice.

"We will."

"You don't understand. She could be dangerous to herself if she is left alone with her thoughts for too long."


	3. Chapter 3

I do not own Sailor Moon.

**Evolution**

**Chapter 3—The Search**

* * *

Last time on Evolution:

Darien hadn't felt her transform right away. In fact it was five minutes before he felt it. Jumping up from his couch, he ran towards his bedroom, the last place he had seen Serena. He threw open the door, but the bed was empty. He looked around the room, praying that maybe he had just over looked her. As soon as he saw the window, he knew. The curtains were billowing in the wind.

"She's gone!" Finally his voice connected with his thoughts. He heard the girls and Luna and Artemis running towards the room. They looked into the room and were also convinced.

"You have to find her," Luna said, her worry evident in her voice.

"We will."

"You don't understand. She could be dangerous to herself if she is left alone with her thoughts for too long."

And now the continuation:

* * *

As soon as Darien heard Luna's words, he was nearly out of his apartment. He wasn't going to lose her. They still had the future to look forward to. He prayed she was just scared, but he knew that she was going to try her hardest to protect them. He didn't want her to protect them; it was their job to protect her. On the way out, Darien grabbed his keys, fully intending to get in his car and go hunting for Serena.

The girls ran out of the bedroom after him. They stopped him with one yell.

"Darien, stop!"

"What?" He flipped around. "You heard Luna; she said that Serena could be dangerous! We have to find her!"

"Darien," Amy reasoned. "We need a plan of attack. We can't just rush out of here with nowhere to go."

"Think about where she would go first." After Artemis' words, everyone was quiet for a full minute.

"If she knew, she would go straight to the park to see for herself." Everyone looked at Lita. That was when they knew. They knew that Serena knew about what she had done. They knew that Serena knew about the earthquake and the people that died.

"Crap!" Darien continued out the door and into his floor's elevator. Just as the doors opened, Darien heard his apartment door slam. The girls caught up with him before the elevator doors finished opening. As soon as they had all filed into the enclosed space, Darien pressed the button for the parking garage.

It had to be one of the most awkward silences any of them had ever gone through. Only the obnoxious elevator music could be heard. Darien started to tap his foot, praying that the elevator would go faster.

"Darien," Mina touched his shoulder, trying to calm him down. "I want to say calm down, but I know it won't work. We will find her though, I promise."

Darien nodded his head; he wasn't sure he really believed her. His mind was going haywire. _Serena, please don't do anything stupid. Please be safe and in one spot._

As soon as the elevators door opened, Darien and the girls raced to his car. They piled in, then as soon as Darien started the car and left the lot, they were going eighty down the street towards the park. He saw Lita holding onto the door and the seat as he was speeding and weaving through cars. He figured that the rest of the girls were doing the same exact thing. He didn't really care though. Right now all that mattered was finding Serena, and he promised he was going to.

He drove up to the parking spots, looking for the first available one. As soon as he saw one, he drove right in, not caring about how badly he was parked. He barely took enough time to get the keys out of the ignition and shut his door before he was already out running towards where they had defeated the monster. The girls were hot on his tail, as eager to make sure that Serena was safe.

For some odd reason the park was extremely busy. Darien was weaving between them just trying to get to where the fight had taken place. As soon as they had gotten past the people it was easy to get to the fight zone. Darien was scared though. What if Serena wasn't there? What if something really bad had happened to her? What if she had…No, he couldn't think about that. He wouldn't be able to handle it if she had done something to herself.

They saw the spot where the fight had taken place. Serena wasn't there. Darien put his face into his hands, trying to sense where she was. Wherever she was, she wasn't Sailor Moon anymore. _Serena, where the heck are you? _

"Where could she have gone?" Lita cried out.

"Could she have gone home?" Amy asked, not really expecting anyone to answer.

"She would be so guilt ridden she would be crying. Her mom would notice right away. I don't think she went home." Raye said. "I need to get back to the temple so I can meditate. Maybe the fire will tell me something." With those words, Raye went off to her home.

Everyone stood there in silence for a second. Finally Mina broke it. "I'm going to go check her normal school to home route. She might gone that way. Hopefully."

"I'll go check to see if Andrew may know where she is. She might have stopped in there to talk to him." Lita was already walking away from them.

"I'll go see if she's at her house. She could have gone there." Amy said. She felt bad for Darien. If her boyfriend had done the same thing, she would be beside herself with worry.

"Darien," Mina questioned before walking away, "why don't you go back to your apartment?"

He looked at her like she was insane. "No! I can't go back to my apartment until I know that Serena is safe!"

"Fine. Fine." Mina nodded. "Are you just going to drive around the city looking for her then?"

"Yeah…I guess so. You guys know to call me if you find her right?"

"Of course!"

"Then let's go. I don't want Serena out by herself." In mutual agreement everyone got up and went to their respective locations. Each had the same prayer on their minds: _Please keep her safe. Please bring her back to us._

**Sailor Moon**

Serena had just gotten up to go to the bathroom when her door bell rang. She saw Sammy run to get it. What if it was one of her friends? She didn't want to see any of them until she knew what was going on.

"Sammy!" Serena yelled.

"What?" He was obviously annoyed.

"If it's one of my friends tell them I'm not home."

"Why?"

_Crap! I hoped he hadn't thought of that! _"Look, I'll give you whatever you want. Just tell them that I'm not home."

Sammy squinted his eyes towards her, trying to gauge if she could be trusted. He shrugged his shoulders and went to answer the door as the doorbell rang again. _Please do what I asked you Sammy._ She snuck down to the bottom of the stairs to see if he did.

"Hello?" Sammy questioned to the person on the other side of the door as he opened it.

"Sammy, it's Amy. I was wondering if Serena was home."

Sammy shook his head. "She hasn't come home yet. We thought that she was with you."

"Oh no!" Amy clutched her head and started to turn around.

"Did something happen to her?"

"Oh…uh…no. We just had a little bit of a fight."

"Oh, well, when she comes home, I'll tell her to call you."

"Thank you, Sammy." Amy walked away, and Sammy shut the door.

"You owe me, Serena." He said as they walked back up the stairs.

"I know. Thank you."

Serena opened the door to the bathroom. She had such a sad look on her face that Sammy had to ask her:

"Wanna tell me what really happened?"

"She told you. We had a little fight."

Sammy scoffed. "You've had fights before, and you've never done this before."

"Sammy, go to bed." Serena walked into the bathroom, and sat on the floor. She knew he thought she was insane, but what if something happened? What if she lost control for just one second and killed her friends? How would she live with herself? How could she? Tears started to roll down her cheeks again. "I'm sorry," she cried between sobs. "I'm so sorry."

She was only doing what was best for them. Wasn't she?

**Sailor Moon**

Lita ran into the Crowne Parlor praying that she was sitting in her normal spot. Her eyes sought out the smaller blonde. No luck. She searched around the arcade. Maybe she was sitting at the Sailor V machine she used to love so much. Again, no such luck. She groaned. _Serena, where did you go? _She started to open the door to go back outside.

"I would like a triple chocolate milkshake to go please."

_Triple chocolate milkshake?_ Lita turned back around and looked at the counter. Serena's mother and father were standing there. Lita scanned the area around them for Sammy or Serena. Neither were there.

"Mr. and Mrs. Tsukino?" Lita asked it tentatively.

"Oh, hello, Lita. How are you?" Mrs. Tsukino responded.

"I'm well. I was wondering if you had seen Serena anywhere." _Please tell me where she is. Please, oh, please, oh, please._

"Well, actually, I—"

"Here you go, Mrs. Tsukino." Andrew walked up with the milkshake. Lita gave him the dirtiest look she could muster.

"Thank you, Andrew. Have a great night." Without even answering her question, both of Serena's parents walked out of the arcade.

"Hey, wait!"

"Oh, Lita, don't worry. As soon as I see Serena, I'll tell her you said hi."

_As soon as I see Serena…_ Does that mean that she doesn't know where she is? Lita inwardly cursed Serena's parents. She picked up her cell phone and called Amy. She would have made it to Serena's house before Lita ever made it to the arcade.

"Hello?" Amy answered.

"Amy, it's Lita. I just saw Mr. and Mrs. Tsukino. Was Serena at her house?"

"No. I talked to Sammy just now. He said that they thought Serena was with us."

"This is insane. How could she just have disappeared?"

"I don't know. What do we do now?"

"Where are you now?"

"I'm at the park, where we fought the monster."

"Stay there, I'll join you." Lita hung up her phone and ran in the direction of the park.

**Sailor Moon**

Mina should have known better. She knew that she wouldn't be that lucky. She knew that Serena wouldn't have taken the same path towards her home. She was smarter than that. She knew that would be the first place that they checked.

She did it anyways though. She walked to their school and walked the mile towards Serena's house. It was already dark though. The alleys and such were already dark to begin with in broad daylight. Serena could be in one of the alleyways hurt, and no one would know about it until the following morning when she was on the news.

Mina shook her head. She knew that thinking about that kind of thing wasn't going to help her find Serena. She had to keep a clear head. She had to be able to make calm and rational decisions. As she walked though, her decisions became less calm and rational and quickly turned to panicky and depressed. Serena wasn't anywhere on the road. More than one time an innocent person just walking by her freaked her out.

She knew that she couldn't take much more. Finally she called Amy, and as soon as she told her where Lita and she were waiting, Mina took off in that direction. She told herself not to feel guilty, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

**Sailor Moon**

Darien was driving like a mad man, and he knew it. He wasn't going too far around the city, just enough so that Serena would bump into him. He shined his headlights in every alley, scaring cats and people away.

This wasn't happening! This couldn't be happening! How did one girl disappear? She still had her original 'Meatball Head' hairstyle. Surely someone would have seen her walk by. As it turned out, no one saw anything—at least no one was fessing up. He had gotten out of his car and asked so many people that said no. Finally he had decided to just drive around.

"Serena, where are you, baby?" Darien picked up his cell phone and dialed Serena's phone. He knew she had it on her, wherever she was. She never left her house without it. Her parents had bought her the phone for when she goes running, but Darien knew she used it for a lot more than just that.

"Hi, you've reached Serena Tsukino. I'm not here to answer the phone right now. If you leave your name and number, I'll get back to you." He heard her laugh at the end of the message. It calmed him down the tiniest bit.

"Serena, baby, I know you're worried about everything, but we can work this out together. Please just call me." Darien's message sounded as if he was dying. He might as well have been too because if he didn't see Serena or hear her voice talk to him, he was going to go insane. And insanity always leads to death.

His phone rang. At the shrill sound, Darien slammed on his brakes, causing the car behind him to nearly rear end him. Darien picked up his phone, as he started going again.

"Serena?" He asked into the phone, hopefully.

"No, it's Raye."

"What is it, Raye?" Darien was disappointed for a second, until he thought that she had found Serena. "Did you find her?"

There was silence for a second. "No."

"Then what do you want?"

"Come to my temple. We have a problem."

**Sailor Moon**

Raye stared into the fire, focusing all of her energy on finding Serena. This was the third time that she had tried. Normally it worked right away, but Raye had actually expected this. In fact she had nearly planned on it. Serena never did things the easy way.

This time seemed different somehow. Maybe what everyone said was true. Maybe the third time really is the charm. She blinked her eyes and breathed, focusing entirely on Serena.

As she focused, things started to turn blurry, making Raye believe that she was finally getting somewhere. Then just as Serena's face came out of the fog, a deep, evil laugh came with it, extinguishing the face in the fire. She sat back on her haunches.

This was bad.

This was really bad!

That meant that Serena was in danger. Flying for her phone, Raye quickly speed dialed the other scouts and Darien, and told them to meet up at the temple.

Five short minutes later, Raye turned back to the fire. The laugh was still echoing in her thoughts.


	4. Chapter 4

I do not own Sailor Moon.

**Evolution**

I use a lot of Japanese terms in this. For a list of what all the terms mean go to the bottom of the page. Enjoy.

**Chapter 4—Sick**

* * *

Raye was sitting right beside the fire when the girls broke into her thoughts. From their looks they had been standing there a while.

"Raye, why are you crying?" Amy repeated her question just as Darien walked through the door.

"Something bad is going to happen to Serena."

"How do you know?" Darien asked, his face pale.

"When I saw her in the fire, she was surrounded by fog, and there was an evil voice too. I've never heard anything before."

"What did the voice say?"

"It didn't say anything. It just laughed."

"Did the fire show where Serena was?"

"No. The fog covered that up. I have a feeling she's going to be in deep danger if we don't find her quickly."

"We've checked everywhere, Raye. We don't know where she is." Lita told them.

"She wasn't at her house?" Mina asked.

"No. Sammy answered the door. They thought that she was with us. Sammy promised to have her call us as soon as she got home, but…" Amy let her sentence trail off.

The girls started to form a new plan, but Darien wasn't listening anymore. He looked at his watch. It was nearly midnight. They had been searching for a long time already, and they were no closer to finding her than when they had first started. They had no idea where to search. They had already searched all of the places where she normally went. _Serena, where are you, baby?_

**Sailor Moon**

Serena had fallen asleep and slept fitfully for the night. She didn't remember having any dreams, but she woke up in a cold sweat so she knew that she had. She wanted to talk to Darien and the others. She wanted to understand why this was happening. She wanted to know what was happening to her. She needed her friends by her side right now.

But what if something happened? What if she lost control and killed her friends? How could she ever live with herself? Maybe it was just better if she disappeared for a little while. The less monsters she fought the better.

She walked downstairs to try to talk her mom into letting her stay home for the day. She was up early, from lack of sleep. As she walked down the stairs she felt ill, and she probably looked it too. She was stumbling and swaying from side to side more than normal. Even when she was late for school, she was never this bad.

"Good morning, Sam—Serena? What are you doing up so early?" Mrs. Tsukino's eyes were wide. Serena had never been up this early. Even when she was a baby, she could sleep full nights by the time she was a month old.

"I couldn't sleep." Serena sat down at the table ready to eat her breakfast. Mrs. Tsukino looked at Serena strangely then hurried into the kitchen to bring out the breakfast. One by one she set the dishes on the table. Once everything was out she stood back to admire her handiwork. The breakfast consisted of _tamagoyaki_, broiled fish, _Miso _soup, and steamed rice with _tsukemono_. She smiled as she served Serena.

"_Itadakimasu_." Serena said quietly.

Mrs. Tsukino nodded. She watched Serena eat until Sammy walked down the stairs. When he walked into the dining room he stopped. He had never come down the stairs for breakfast and see Serena sitting at the table. He was still staring while his mother served his food. When the plates and bowls were set in front of him, he picked up his _miso_ first. He held it to his mouth and started to drink. When all the liquid was gone, he set it back down. He looked towards Serena ready to smirk that she was going to get fat if she continued to eat like a pig. What he saw astonished him. She was staring off into space. She was holding her chopsticks poised over her fish. She grabbed a piece of the fish and started to push it around her plate.

Mrs. Tsukino was just finishing serving Mr. Tsukino when she noticed.

"Serena, darling, are you feeling alright?" She asked.

Serena blinked and looked up to her mother. She had actually been thinking of a way to not go to school. She wasn't feeling very hungry either though. She actually did feel sick. "I'm not feeling very well."

Mrs. Tsukino nodded. That explained a lot. "Why don't you stay home from school today?"

Serena nodded, rearranged her dishes and put her chopsticks back onto their holder. She muttered a quick _gochisosama deshita_ and walked back up the stairs towards her room. She flopped down on her bed and once again cried herself to sleep only to have nightmares.

_ She was standing on a dock. The water was covering the end, but where she was standing it was only a little wet. The waters surrounding her were high. She felt her legs give out and as they did water flew over her head. Droplets rained down on her, totally soaking her clothing. When she had wiped the water out of her eyes, she saw a woman in black walking towards her from the water covered part of the dock._

_ Quickly, she stood up to greet the woman. _

_ "Serenity…"_

_ Serena shook her head, she opened her mouth to try to convey her thoughts, but nothing would come out._

_ "Serenity…" Before Serena's very eyes the water around the dock froze. The waves that had been crashing into it were suddenly stopped, suspended in mid air. Frost covered the bridge right up to where they were standing. Serena saw fear in the woman's eyes. But just as she was about to open her mouth to explain, she too was covered in ice._

_ Serena turned around. She saw her friends, battling ice monsters and get frozen one by one. She saw Darien rushing towards her to try to save her from getting iced. People were surrounding her, all covered in ice. Then in the distance a black cloud arose; a laugh echoing throughout the frozen wasteland he had created._

Serena's mother had to shake her awake. Serena was cold and clammy and had been tossing and turning in her sleep for the past couple minutes. She had wanted her daughter to eat. After all it was all ready noon, and Serena hadn't even eaten anything for breakfast.

Serena jerked into an upright position, nearly unseating her mother. She was cold.

"Serena, honey, you have to eat."

Serena shook her head.

"Please, Serena, just eat."

"I'm not hungry." She laid back down and fell asleep while her mother brushed her hair. Mrs. Tsukino wasn't planning on leaving Serena anytime soon.

When Sammy got home, he found his mother still in Serena's room. Serena had a damp cloth on her forehead and was breathing heavily.

"Is she okay, Mom?"

"Oh, Sammy, I didn't realize that you were home. Would you like a snack?" Mrs. Tsukino didn't wait for her son's answer. "Stay up here with Serena. I'll call you when I have your snack ready." Sammy already knew what he was getting, he had smelled the rice balls cooking when he had first walked through the door. He was going to be getting, _ohagi _and green tea. His mouth started watering just thinking about it. He looked over towards Serena. Her eyes were wide open and feverish. Sammy grabbed the cloth from her forehead and dipped it in the water beside the bed. As he was putting it back on her forehead, she tried to mouth thank you, but he couldn't understand her, as she fell asleep again.

Shortly after, Mrs. Tsukino came back up the stairs. "Your snack is ready, Sammy."

"How is Serena, Mom?"

"She's had a fever for the better part of the day, but it just started to go down. She'll be okay. I'll keep her home from school tomorrow too, though, just in case. Now go eat your snack."

"Did you take her to the hospital?"

"No, it was just a little fever from exhaustion. Now go eat." Sammy was in the middle of eating when the doorbell rang. "Sammy, will you get that please?" Mrs. Tsukino yelled.

Sammy grumbled and stomped his feet all the way to the door. He threw it open and was about to yell, what do you want, when he saw that it was Amy, Raye, and Lita.

"Hi, Sammy, we were wondering if Serena is here." Amy asked quietly.

"No, she's not." Sammy said. _Serena, you owe me._

"Did she come home last night?"

"Yeah, she left early this morning and hasn't come back since."

"Did you tell her to call us?"

"I would have, had I seen her. She just walked up the stairs to her bedroom and was gone before I even woke up this morning."

"Thanks Sammy." Raye said, dejectedly. Sammy closed the door, just as his mother came down the steps.

"Who was that?" She asked, smiling.

"Some weirdo, looking for Serena. I told him that she was sick." Sammy winced when he realized that he was lying to his mother. When she nodded, Sammy let out a sigh and ran up the stairs to Serena's room. When he walked in she was sitting against the head board, staring out into space.

"You owe me," he told her.

She turned dead eyes to him. When she looked up at him she nodded.

"Mind telling me what really happened now?"

She shook her head, but he wasn't going to let the matter drop that easily.

"Amy, Raye, and Lita were just here, Serena. They looked worried. Now tell me what happened!"

"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you."

"Try me."

Serena was quiet.

"Look, I'm not going to lie for you anymore. Either you tell me what's going on, or I'll find your friends and tell them that you're just sitting in your room, pouting."

When Serena remained quiet, Sammy scoffed and walked out of the room.

"I'm sorry, Sammy." Serena whispered.

Sailor Moon

Darien and the girls had waited nearly all morning outside of the arcade or outside of their school. Serena never appeared. If Darien weren't already worried out of his mind, he would have been. She never missed school! She was late sure, but she never missed.

"Me, Raye, and Amy are going to go to her house. Maybe she came home." Lita said. Darien nodded absently. He didn't acknowledge where they were going until the arcade door opened. He looked behind him, surprised. Mina had to explain where they went.

"Look, I can't just sit here. We have to find her." Darien started. "I'm gonna go drive around for a little bit; maybe I missed something." Artemis hopped onto Darien's shoulder and let him lead him to Darien's car.

"Luna, maybe me and you should check all the routes from Serena's house to the park and our school." Luna was just as worried as everyone else was. She had stayed up most the night, while the others slept, because she was so worried. Both she and Artemis had done that.

"I'm so worried about Serena, Mina. If something happens to her, she could destroy thousands of miles and kill just as many people."

"I know, come on." They first went back to the park where the attack had happened. From there they searched every possible route to her house. When the found nothing, they started to go back to the arcade when they bumped, literally, into Lita, Raye, and Amy.

"Did you guys find anything?" Luna questioned.

"According to Sammy, she came home last night, but he never saw her. He said that she left early this morning, before he even woke up." Raye explained.

"Could she have gone running?" Mina asked.

"No," Luna stated. "At the time, Serena normally runs, I was already on the path she normally takes. If she had gone running, I most certainly would have seen her."

Sailor Moon

Serena watched as Darien's car drove past her house at least once every five minutes. They were looking for her. At least, Darien was. Serena shuddered. She had to formulate a plan so that they didn't find her until she was ready. But what could she actually do? She needed her friends; without them, she was really lost. She couldn't protect them, if she was with them. What if she hurt them?

Serena buried her face in her hands. Tears raced down her cheeks.

* * *

Japanese Terms:

_Tamagoyaki_—rolled omelet. It normally has _daikon _radishes on the side, but it is a really good traditional breakfast food

Tsukemono—salty pickles that you eat with rice

_Itadakimasu_—"let's eat," or literally "I humbly receive." A term used when food is served.

_Gochisosama deshita_—"Thank you for the meal"

* * *

Japanese Traditions to note:

-When Serena rearranges her dishes when she leaves the table it is because in Japan one has to rearrange his dishes to the way they were when he started eating.

-Unless people are sick, it is considered bad manners to not eat everything you are served, down to the last grain of rice.

-So as not to share germs and sicknesses, normally the host/hostess will serve the food. If one were to pass around his chopsticks with the food, after serving himself, the people around him will be insulted.

-Because medicines are so high priced, families will often share prescriptions. Because of their national healthcare, many Japanese go to the doctor even for slight illnesses as it would be cheaper than buying medicine at the store.

* * *

Any questions? If you like it, if you think it sucks, whatever, review.


	5. Chapter 5

I do not own Sailor Moon, or any of the things I also mention.

**Evolution**

I use a lot of Japanese places in this. For a list, go to the bottom of the page. Enjoy.

**Chapter 5—Running**

_

* * *

Serena_ wasn't at school the next day, either. _This is getting out of hand_, Darien thought. He was going to kill her as soon as he found her. He swore he was. He and Raye had waited outside of her school for almost an hour yesterday and today. She never came. Lita, Mina, and Amy were all inside trying to contact her when the teacher wasn't looking. Unfortunately, besides the fact they couldn't get her, the teacher confiscated Mina's phone. Mina got so upset about her phone, she cried. The teacher got so annoyed, he almost gave the phone back to her. Now they were all talking in the back booth at the arcade. Darien had his head in his hands; while the others were staring at the table.

"We have to see if she's home." Raye said. "Surely she couldn't have—" Raye stopped.

"I agree." Darien said. "This time we have to see if her mother answers."

"Why would it matter?" Lita questioned.

"Well, each time that Sammy has answered the door, he said that Serena wasn't there." Amy answered for Darien. Everyone looked at her.

"Do you think…" Mina started. She didn't have to though. Everyone was already thinking what she was.

"Where does Sammy usually go after school?" Darien asked.

Everyone thought about it. Finally Amy answered, "as far as I know, he only goes home."

Darien and the others looked at each other, then got up out of their booth and raced towards Serena's house. They were out of breath when they finally got there. Darien waited a second before knocking on the door.

"I got it, Mom." Sammy yelled.

"Don't worry about it, I'm right here." Before Sammy could ever get anywhere near the door, Mrs. Tsukino was already there. Sammy hadn't really wanted to answer the door, but Serena made such a scared face that he figured he was going to be roped into it. He and Serena had been watching television in the family room, waiting for dinner. Serena was covered up with a blanket, still suffering from a slight fever. Thankfully, it was Saturday tomorrow. If it was the weekend, she wouldn't be expected to leave the house at all.

"Oh, hello girls and Darien. How are you today?" Serena winced when her mom asked the question. This was it. They were going to figure out that she had been home this entire time. She scooted herself over to the other end of the couch, making herself as small as she could. She didn't want Darien or any of the others to be able to look around her mother and see her.

"We're good, we were wondering if Serena is home yet." Darien held his breath waiting for Mrs. Tsukino's answer.

"Actually, she is, but she is very ill. She's had a fever all day yesterday and today."

"Wait, she was here yesterday?" Darien's eyes widened.

"Of course. She came home two days ago and wouldn't eat dinner with us. The next morning she just pushed around her breakfast. When I decided to keep her home, she already had a fever of one hundred two. She was asleep all yesterday and most of today. So you understand if she can't see you right now."

"Do you think we could talk to her? You know, wish her well." Lita asked hopeful.

Mrs. Tsukino considered their question. "Stay here. Let me go see if she is even awake." Darien smiled as she left. They finally found Serena.

"Do you think she really is sick?" Amy whispered.

"A one hundred two degree fever can be really dangerous. I don't think she could fake something like that." Lita said.

"Could her powers evolving cause that?"

Darien bit his lip. He felt his heart stop for a second. If her crystal could do that when her powers are just beginning to evolve…Doesn't that mean that eventually her crystal could kill her?

"Serena is actually sleeping right now," Mrs. Tsukino said coming up to the door again. "Why don't you guys come by tomorrow morning? I'll have Serena up by seven thirty, so come at eight. I have a feeling she'll want to see you."

_Mom! What are you doing? _Serena wanted to scream at her mother. She had pretended to be asleep, rather well actually, considering that her mother had believed it. She didn't want to see them today, tomorrow, or any other day. She didn't want to hurt them. What was she going to do?

Darien and the others nodded, fully intending to be over tomorrow. When Mrs. Tsukino shut the door, they walked over to Darien's car. As they all piled in, they were thinking the same exact things. They had finally found Serena, and they would be seeing her tomorrow. They would be even if all hell broke loose.

**Sailor Moon**

Her feet hit the pavement. The sound normally calmed Serena, but today she ignored it. She didn't want to be calm; she didn't want to be relaxed. There was no way for her to be either anyways.

Serena wasn't running in her track suit today. Instead she was running in her white mini skirt and green top. She had been wearing clogs, but she lost them a while back. When she had first left the house this morning, she didn't have a clear destination in mind. She hadn't planned on running today. But somehow, here she was.

She was going to be in so much trouble when she got home. This morning she had gotten up at six, so she could be up and out of the house way before her family got up. She quietly snuck out of the house just before seven thirty, without leaving a note, but that wasn't what her parents were going to be mad about. No—it was the fact that she had taken her father's Toyota Prius. She had her license, but she always had to ask to use it, and she hardly did that.

She didn't just take it to the store or the train station either. No! She had driven it an hour to get to the Eleven Auto Campground in Kimitsu. She didn't know why she had driven there, but it was too late to wonder. Maybe it was because she had always felt closer to the moon and farther away from Earth. Exactly what she was thinking, she didn't know. All she did know was that she had to get away. She had talked to Raye, but only briefly on the road. She wanted cry to her friend, but instead she threw the communicator into the glove box. She had been so distracted with the fact that she took her dad's car, that she picked up the communicator before even realized it.

She had driven the Prius as close as she could to Kameyama Lake, but she still had to walk, or rather run, through a small patch of forest. Each time her feet hit the ground, she prayed nothing was wrong, that the scientists had been wrong. It was then that she knew why she had come to this campground. She knew, with each step, that what they believed was right. As soon as she reached the lake, she would know. She could see it just in between the trees.

It was worse than she had originally thought. The lower dock normally stood a full three feet above the normally calm water. Now the water covered the entire lower dock. It wasn't calm either. Even near the upper dock, the water was sloshing onto the dock. Tears fell from her eyes as she looked towards the moon. It was closer than she had ever seen it. It finally sunk in that she had done this.

As she was thinking this over, a black light filled the sky.

**Sailor Moon**

Darien had gotten into his car at exactly seven thirty because he had to pick up the girls before they got to Serena's house. He was pulling out of his apartment's garage, when a red Prius almost hit him. He swore at the blond girl driving it. He had to do a double take when her hair looked like Serena's. As she continued to drive away, Darien shook the feeling that she was Serena. He proved to himself that she wasn't Serena, he looked at the car clock. It was only 7:31; there was no way she would be up just yet.

One by one he picked up the girls, and they were finally at Serena's house. Inside it was complete chaos. They could hear screaming and yelling coming from the inside. Darien looked towards the girls. They rushed up towards the door and started to bang on it. Mr. Tsukino opened the door.

"Where is Serena?" Mr. Tsukino screamed at them.

"Don't you yell at them!" Mrs. Tsukino pushed her husband out of the way and spoke to the girls and Darien. "Have you guys seen Serena?" She asked calmly.

"Why what happened?" Lita asked.

"She stole my car!" Mr. Tsukino yelled, coming into the door way again.

"What do you mean?" Raye started to yell.

"She snuck out of the house, just before we woke up. By the time, my wife went to wake up Serena, she was already racing down the street in _my_ car!"

The girls shook their heads, not really understanding what was happening. Darien understood fully understood what was happening though.

"Do you drive a red Prius?" Darien asked. _No! No! No! No, this can't be!_ _That couldn't have been Serena!_

"Yes! Did you see her?" Mr. Tsukino grabbed Darien and shook him. "Where did you see her?"

_That was her! Darn it! _"Yeah, she almost hit me when I was pulling out of my apartment's garage."

Mrs. Tsukino put her face into her hands and cried as her husband walked away in a rage. Darien and the girls just stood there waiting for Mrs. Tsukino to regain her composure. Darien couldn't take the wait anymore.

"Mrs. Tsukino, where could Serena have gone?" He asked.

She lifted up her head, tears still rushing down her face. "I-I-I don't know."

"Are there any places that she particularly loved going to? Any places she always wants to go again?" Amy asked before Darien could. "Any childhood places?"

Mrs. Tsukino shrugged and raked her hand through her hair. "She loved this one campground in Kimitsu especially the lake; she loved going to Tokyo Disney; she wanted to go to Aokigahara; I don't know."

"When was the last time she went to the campground?" Lita asked.

"It was two years ago. Last year we were going to go, but something came up. The same with this year. It's been years since she mentioned Tokyo Disney, and Aokigahara is a rather new thing."

"Which campground is it?" Mina asked.

"It's um...it's um…um, one in Kimitsu. Eleven Auto Camp-jo. It takes an hour to just get there from here though. She doesn't really like sitting still for that long. I can't even picture her going there, especially by herself."

"Are there any other places she could have gone?"

"None that I can think of off the top of my head, and she doesn't have enough money to get a plane ticket anywhere else." Mrs. Tsukino's tears now came in earnest.

Darien grabbed a piece of paper out of his wallet and jotted down his cell phone number. "Will you call me if you hear from her or if you think of anymore places?"

As soon as Mrs. Tsukino nodded, Darien turned around and went to his car; the girls were right behind him. As soon as they all piled into it, he handed the GPS to Amy.

"Look up the campground." He ordered. Amy took the GPS and did what he said. As soon as she turned the device on, they were already speeding away from the Tsukino house hold.

"Shouldn't we split up? Mrs. Tsukino said three different spots."

"No. The campground is the most recent. If Serena is running away, she would go somewhere a little more remote than Disney. Why would Serena want to go to Aokigahara anyways?"

"Darien, you honestly don't know the answer to that question?" Raye asked quietly.

He did, but he was praying that it wasn't the reason. Serena wasn't going to commit suicide. She couldn't. "The campground would be the quietest spot, and hardly anyone would be able to find her."

"It costs money to get onto the grounds, Darien."

"Not if you go in the back way." Amy said. Everyone looked at her, waiting for her to explain. "It shows on the map a back way. It says that it is only for people who want to view the camp, before they go there. If Serena went there then, I'll bet she went through the back way."

"Why would Serena want to just see the camp if she had already been there?" Mina asked.

"The moon." It was all Darien would answer. He got onto the highway that led the way to Kimitsu the fastest.

Everyone remained quiet as they thought about Darien's answer. Serena hadn't seen the effects of the moon being closer to the earth. If she had gone to the campground, she would be right in the thick of it, if she went to the lake. Darien weaved through the cars going as fast as his car would allow him to. He wanted to get to Serena as fast as possible. He knew that if there was a lake, then there would be cliffs. If something had happened, and her brain couldn't take it anymore…He stopped his train of thoughts there though. She wasn't going to commit suicide. He wouldn't allow her to. A thought suddenly popped into his head.

"Raye, will you see if you can get Serena on her communicator?"

Raye did as he asked. She would still be on the road after all. Mrs. Tsukino said it took an hour to get there, which meant she was half an hour ahead of them.

"Hello," Serena answered the call.

"Serena, where are you?" Raye called frantically.

"Raye? No, I can't do this right now!" Raye saw the car's passenger seat quickly before everything went dark. She heard a snap.

"What happened?" Darien asked frantically. As soon as he heard Serena's voice, he felt a calm extend over every part of his being.

"I think she threw her communicator into the glove box. Amy, can you track it?"

Amy whipped out her computer and started typing. "Yes! I found her! She's still on the bridge, but she's pretty close to the end."

Darien sped up. He had already been going towards the bridge, but now he had added incentive. They knew where she was going. _Don't you dare do anything stupid, Serena._

* * *

Japanese Places:

-Eleven Auto Camp-Jo is an actual camp in Japan. The lake there is called Kameyama Lake. It's located in Kimitsu-city, Chiba.

-Disney Tokyo is in Tokyo. Go figure!

-Aokigahara is a forest at the base of Mount Fuji. It is known for being a suicide spot. I believe it is second in the world.

-The bridge Amy is talking about is the Tokyo Bay Aqua Line. Its weekend toll rate is $10.11 or 1,000 yen. Other times it is higher: Monday through Friday 2,300 yen or $19.50.


	6. Chapter 6

I do not own Sailor Moon, or any of the things I also mention.

**Evolution**

I forgot to answer a question with my last update. This actually takes place after the Outer Scouts were found. I was never really fond of Uranus or Neptune; I really like Pluto and Saturn though, especially Saturn, she was probably my favorite scout. I'm messed up. :) I introduce a new character in this chapter, she is a product of my imagination and has absolutely nothing to do with the manga or the anime. Enjoy

**Chapter 6—Finding Serena**

* * *

An hour of driving and they still weren't anywhere close to finding Serena. Darien figured it was just because she knew the campground better than they did. He wanted to kill her. There was one thing to be thankful for, though. She had finally stopped. Now they had to go through the grounds looking for her car. They had almost been through half of the campground, at least that's what Darien thought.

"Darien, stop!" Amy, sitting in the front seat, yelled.

His tires squealing against the pavement, Darien came to a complete halt. He looked around for the red Prius, but he couldn't see anything except for a dirt path.

"Go that way," Amy said, motioning with her hand to go down the dirt path. Amy breathed a sigh of relief as he did. He had been going so fast, she could have sworn they were doing sixty.

"Why are we going this way, Ames?" Raye asked.

"That's why." Amy smiled as she said this. A red Prius was parked at the end of the path. Its driver's door was flung wide open, and the music was still blaring. Darien parked and turned off the car, before getting out. The Prius was still running.

"Where is she?"Lita asked looking in every direction.

"I don't know." Amy looked down at her computer, trying to see if maybe there was something she missed.

"Amy, is there anything around us beside trees?"

"There's a lake."

"Which direction?"

Amy pointed north. Darien took off running; soon followed by Lita, Mina, Raye, and finally Amy. Tree's passed as they ran. Eventually they found the remnants of a paved path. The louder their feet hit the path, the faster they ran. Finally rushing water was heard.

Light broke through the trees ahead of them. Darien smiled. _Just a couple more feet. Just a couple, and you'll get to see her_, Darien thought. They broke through the line of trees. Darien breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Serena standing on the dock. The three days of not seeing her disappeared as his body relaxed. She was just ahead of him. In just a couple seconds, he'd be able to hug her, to kiss her, to yell at her for making him worry. The thought made him smile. He was going to make her miserable until she apologized profusely for making him miserable.

"Serena!" Mina raised her arm and waved. The girl on the dock didn't see her though. They weren't sure she even heard Mina.

Darien cupped his hands to his mouth and yelled, "Serena!"

Still, Serena gave no response. They looked at each other, trying to reason out why Serena was suddenly deaf.

"Do you guys hear that?" Raye asked. Everyone remained quiet as they listened. They couldn't hear anything. "It's quiet. We should be able to hear the lake."

"We just heard it. Why can't we hear it now?" Amy asked, looking down at her computer. She typed something.

"Why can't we hear it anymore, Amy?"

"It looks like there's a shield surrounding Serena."

"What's it made of?" Darien asked.

"Well…it's emanating from her crystal. I don't know why it suddenly just popped up though."

"That's the least of our worries right now, Amy." Lita almost scolded her friend.

"What? No it's not." Amy looked up from her computer, to look at Lita. Lita was pointing near the dock. Everyone followed her gaze. Right next to the dock were four bird-like monsters.

"Where did they come from?" Mina asked.

"Don't know, but I think we better transform."

**Sailor Moon**

Serena had no idea how long she had been standing on the dock when she saw the black light, but suddenly it was there. It was like a comet was hurtling straight towards her. Serena took a step backwards, and was about to run away, when the light stopped. Before Serena's eyes, a woman appeared out of the black. She had long black curly hair and grey eyes. She wore a black dress that, as Serena remembered, strongly resembled the dress Neo-Queen Serenity wore. The woman stepped onto the dock and walked right up to Serena.

"Who are you?" Serena asked. At first Serena was nervous, but as soon as the woman spoke up, all of Serena's fears fled away.

"I am your cousin, Abigail."

"My cousin?! I know Mina's my cousin, technically, but I don't know any Abigail."

The woman, Abigail, nodded as if she understood exactly why Serena didn't remember who she was. "Mina's your cousin on your mother's side; I am your cousin on your father's side."

"My father?"

"Yes, King Julius. My father, King Darius, was your father's younger brother."

"Why don't I remember this? Why didn't my mother tell me about all of this?"

"From what I know happened on the moon and before, I wouldn't want my memories back, if I were you. As for your mother, you had just learned you were Princess Serenity of the Moon, would you want to know all of your history, also?"

Serena nodded, agreeing with Abigail. Then a thought popped into her head. "Do you know what's happening to me then?"

"What do you mean?"

"I killed thirty people, I nearly blew up, not only my friends, but myself, and I caused an earthquake that was at least a seven on the Richter Scale!"

"Oh. Is that it?"

"'Is that it?' How can you be so calm about this?"

"It happens to all of the Crystal Rulers. When my powers evolved, I killed fifteen people, I blew up three building around myself, and my earthquake was a six on your Richter Scale."

"Crystal Rulers? What are they?"

"Have you ever heard of the Council?"

Serena remembered what the monster had said four days ago: _"So you are the one they are looking for."_ The monster had said. _"The council…" _Serena shuddered.

"The Council is a defense system, Inter-Galactical Defense, is the proper name. Each of the rulers has a crystal to protect their galaxy with. When a monster appears and destroys a full galaxy and jumps to another, a Council meeting is called."

"I have the Silver Crystal; Darien has the Golden Crystal. Which one do you have? How many crystals are there?"

Abigail hesitated. "There are ten, each for the major galaxies."

"But which one do you have?"

Abigail sighed. "The Black Crystal."

Serena gasped and started to back away. Abigail expected it though. "Not everything that is dark is evil, Serena." She had known exactly what Serena was scared of. "You don't have to be scared of me, you know."

"How can I not be? You're from the Nega-verse!"

"The Nega-verse? Good, God, no!"

"You're not? Then where are you from?"

"I am from the advent Moon Galaxy. It is almost on the other side of the universe."

"Why are you here then?"

"I am looking for more Crystal Rulers to fight a monster wreaking havoc on my galaxy, and I know Darien and you are already members."

"You need Darien too, then?" Serena hoped she did. When Abigail shook her head, Serena was confused. "Why not?"

"There are ten Crystal Rulers—the strongest of the strong. We cannot afford to have all ten Rulers killed at once."

"Oh." Serena said, stupidly. "How strong is this monster?"

"Do you remember Mistress 9 and Pharaoh 90?"

"Of course!"

"From the destruction that I have seen and heard, this monster is a direct relation to Pharaoh 90. He calls himself the Pharaoh."

Serena gasped. She carefully thought through her situation. A cousin she had from the moon came looking for her, so that she and a bunch of other people could defeat a monster, a monster that was related to Pharaoh 90, the one that only Super Sailor Moon and Sailor Saturn could defeat. If her powers were truly evolving, like Abigail said they were, then she wouldn't be able to transform into Sailor Moon at all. Serena put her face into her hands. Maybe this was all a dream, maybe none of this was even happening. She pinched her arm. _Darn it! Nope, definitely not dreaming._

"I need to know if you are willing to help us defeat Pharaoh, Serena."

"I don't think I'll even be able to."

"Why not?" Abigail looked mad.

"Whenever my powers are "evolving," I can't turn into Sailor Moon. I don't see how I can help you defeat this thing, when I can't even transform."

Abigail laughed. "Serena, when this happens to a Crystal Ruler, they will never be able to transform into a Sailor Scout again."

"Then I definitely cannot help you." Serena turned around to walk away. She looked around her surroundings. Something was off. The trees were still there, the water was still raging, and the grass was just the same as she had come. "I have to go." Serena started to walk away. She couldn't leave without her friends. She didn't really want to see them until she got her powers under control, but from the looks of it, that wasn't going to happen very soon. She wanted Darien right now; she wanted him to hold her tight and tell her that everything was going to be alright.

"If you don't help me, then Pharaoh will just come here and destroy this galaxy, after he's destroyed mine." Abigail sniffed. Serena thought she sounded like she was going to cry.

"Then we'll stop him here." Serena stopped to tell her.

"Five Crystal Rulers weren't strong enough to defeat him. What makes you think only you and Darien can defeat him?"

"I already know my future. I know that I will stop him."

"Then this is what will guarantee your future."

Serena finally turned around to face Abigail again. "What do you mean?

"I mean that I will never relinquish my crown to you, unless you help me."

"What makes you think that I need your crown?"

"Queen Serenity was high queen of the universe. She ruled over all of the planets, stars, and galaxies. When you could not be found, I took the place of high queen in your stead, and until I give the crown away, it remains mine."

"You can't do that! It is rightfully mine!"

"Unless you help defeat Pharaoh, it will forever remain in my possession."

"This is blackmail."

"If that is the only way to make you fight, then so be it!" Abigail took a breath. "I will not die, because one ruler decided it wasn't worth her time. I will not watch as my people are destroyed because of one ruler's laziness."

Abigail had covered the remaining steps in between them, while she was talking. Now as they stood face to face, Serena was almost intimidated by her.

"Now I will ask you, will you help us defeat Pharaoh?"

"I don't believe I have choice, do I?"

Abigail smiled, now that she had finally gotten her way. Abigail offered Serena her hand. As soon as Serena took it, she was surrounded by a white light; similar to the black light Abigail was surrounded by. Within seconds, the two were hurtling through the sky, and then across the expanse of the universe. Serena prayed she would not regret this decision.

**Sailor Moon**

Darien and the others transformed and looked at the bird like monsters. They were so intent on getting into the shield that guarded Serena, they didn't even notice Tuxedo Mask and the Sailor Scouts advancing on them until it was too late.

"Mars Fire Ignite!" Sailor Mars shot her attack at the birds.

"Don't interfere!" One of the birds squawked as his counterpart put out his feather fire.

"Why are you here?" Sailor Mercury asked.

"Our mission is to kill the Chosen One. Don't interfere." The bird shot black mucus out of his mouth, and a fight ensued. While the Scouts were fighting the birds, Tuxedo Mask concentrated on finding a way in through the shield guarding Serena. He picked up his rose and was about to throw it, just as a black light filled the sky.

He watched in horror as a woman stepped from the light. He saw Serena take a step and the woman follow. He couldn't understand what they were saying, but he noticed the expressions on their faces. He saw that when the woman laughed; Serena looked scared. When the woman was mad, Serena looked as if she could kill. Tuxedo Mask would give anything to be in there with Serena. Whoever this woman was, he didn't trust her.

He looked behind him. The Scouts had already taken care of three of the birds and were currently stalking the last. Sick of the wait, Tuxedo Mask threw a rose straight at the bird's heart. As it disintegrated, he turned back towards Serena and the woman. Serena was walking towards them, but stopped when the woman said something. They continued to talk. When Serena finally turned towards the woman, the woman was offering her hand.

"Serena!" Tuxedo Mask yelled, trying to get her attention. It was no use. Serena grabbed the woman's hand, and both shot off into the sky.

"Where is she going?" Lita asked after they all had transformed back into civilians.

"I don't know! If I knew, I would be right behind her." Darien yelled back.

"Calm down, Darien." Raye said, defending her friend.

"No, I won't! My girlfriend just went to God knows where with God knows who! I can't just stay here while—"

"What choice do you have, Darien? We don't know where she went or who she's with. What other choice do we have other than to wait until they get back?"

"I'm going back to my apartment. You guys take Mr. Tsukino's car back to him." Without waiting for their response, Darien went back to his car and drove off. There was no way he was going to be telling the Tsukinos that their only daughter had been taken into outer space by a monster. He was already going to have to tell Luna and Artemis, but they wrath would be easy compared to Mr. Tsukino's.

His drive home was made in silence. No music played, he didn't talk to himself; he just drove. He didn't know what to do. He drove at breakneck speed until he reached his apartment's garage. People said hello to him, but he ignored them and continued on his way to his apartment. Taking a deep breath, he unlocked the door to his apartment. Luna and Artemis were sitting on the floor waiting for him.

"What's wrong?" Luna asked.

"She's gone." Darien said, finally coming to terms with the fact. He walked past them, straight to his bedroom. He flopped down and moved his arm to rest over his eyes. Luna and Artemis had followed him. Luna sat down on his stomach while Artemis remained at his side.

"What do you mean she's gone?"

"I mean she ran away, then a monster took her somewhere." Darien explained what he had seen while he thought through everything that had happened in the past four days.

"We have to find her." Luna said after he was done.

"How do you expect me to do that? Huh? I can't exactly follow her into space, Luna, or weren't you listening? That's where she went!"

"We need to figure out a plan."

"Go ahead."

"Darien!"

"Go!" Darien forced Artemis and Luna out of his bedroom and slammed the door. Now finally alone, he leaned against the door. His back rubbed up against it as he slid down. When his rear was on the floor, his tears came in earnest, refusing to be held back a second longer. _Serena? Serena, where are you? I can't feel you anymore. Even when I didn't know where you were, I knew you were safe. Where are you, baby? Just give me a clue so I can come and get you. Please…_

**Sailor Moon**

Serena's feet touched ice cold ground. As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw a frozen barren wasteland.

"What happened here?" She asked Abigail.

"This is my planet, Serena. This is the desert planet, Eris."

"Desert? Frozen desert?"

"No. The ice and the cold are from Pharaoh."

"What is he planning on doing exactly?"

"He wants to make a universal ice age."

* * *

To clear up any confusion:

- Abigail is a figment of my imagination. You will learn more about her history later in the story. Her planet, Eris, is not to be confused with the dwarf planet Eris, near Pluto. I pretended that none of the dwarf planets (barring Pluto) exist.

-The shield around Serena was caused because of Abigail as a form of protection.

Tell me what you think. I'm not planning on having Abigail's thoughts in the story made known, but if you want to hear what she is thinking, I'll put them in.


	7. Chapter 7

I do not own Sailor Moon, or any of the things I also mention.

**Evolution**

**Chapter 7—MEETING THE ENEMY**

* * *

Abigail watched Serena's face closely. She wanted to know what she was thinking. As it was, she didn't have to wait long.

"A universal ice age? How does he plan on doing that?" Serena's tone made it sound as if she didn't believe what Abigail was telling her. Abigail sighed.

"Does it matter how he's going to do it? Obviously the method he's using is working."

"This is only one planet. It doesn't mean his "method" is working." Serena countered.

"He's on his fourth galaxy, and on the last planet in mine." Serena's hand came up to her mouth. Abigail couldn't tell if she actually believed her or if she was just doing it to be sarcastic.

"What's the level of destruction in the other three galaxies?" Apparently something had clicked.

"In the other three, all plant life, human life, animal life, and planet life is dead. The planets' cores have all but gone out. If we don't stop it now, Eris will be like that soon followed by Earth." Abigail let her words sink in as they stood on the edge of Eris, staring at what used to be a beautiful landscape. There were ice pillars covering what used to be cacti. The beautiful desert flowers were now encased in the crystal. Desert sand could be seen peeking through the snow. It wasn't extremely dark, but the sun could still be seen, shining bright, through the dark gray clouds.

"Why isn't the sun melting the ice?" Serena asked.

"Eris has two suns—well, _had_ two suns."

"Had? What happened to the other one?"

"To create a universal ice age, the warmth and light have to be gone out of the universe." Abigail looked up to the sun, her face sad.

"If you get rid of the warmth and light, he could kill billions of people. How could he do that?"

"He has no conscience. In the other galaxies the suns were the last to die, but how else would he bring an ice age on a desert planet? He couldn't just produce one, so he made one possible then escalated it." When Abigail finally looked back at the landscape, Serena made the resolve to help her no matter what the cost. "Come. We must be in the fort by twilight."

"The fort?"

"Years ago, when this planet was first settled, forts were created to protect the Lunarians from unknown dangers. One of the first forts had been deserted so my people settled it. To put it mildly it was a…as you would say it a 'fixer-upper.' We made it possible for people to live there, then we put up barriers as best we could using our crystals."

"Why must we get there by twilight?"

"Things come out at night to play, Serena." Serena gasped taken aback. She quickened her pace and soon she was ahead of Abigail, almost running. The fort could be seen just a little ways in the distance, so Abigail wasn't worried. She let her run. The gates wouldn't open until she reached them though. She had hoped that the next time she would see would be when she passed the crown on to her, but apparently that wasn't to be. She hadn't lied when she told Serena that she was her cousin. She was her cousin on her father's side. She hadn't wanted the place of high queen, so she couldn't wait to give it back to her, but right now everything was upside down. Five rulers couldn't defeat Pharaoh by themselves, how were they supposed to defeat him and train a naïve girl in the ways of war and how to be a proper princess. Abigail smiled. The princess part they had covered. There was a butler who ruled over the fort like he was in charge of the place. If any ruler, including herself, stepped out of the imaginary line that was how the rulers should act, the butler would violently scold them, telling them that it wasn't a proper way for a ruler to behave.

A wolf howled in the distance, causing Abigail to pick up her pace. The wolves had turned deadly since ice had covered everything. The normal things that they ate had all but died out. Because of that the wolves were now in for the chase. Anything that moved would become wolf food if they didn't get away quick enough. They weren't the reason for the 'in before twilight' rule though. It was the monsters, Pharaoh had created from humans, that could stand the dark.

Soon enough Abigail and Serena were running at the same pace right beside each other. Abigail wanted to laugh, but she figured Serena wouldn't appreciate it. Finally, the universe had hope. Two of the strongest rulers were going to be fighting side by side. If that wasn't enough then they knew where the third strongest was located.

"Howard!" Abigail yelled to the door keeper. Night was closing in fast. The moaning of the undead humans were getting louder. The door opened quickly. Closing it quickly, Abigail and Serena both leaned up against the steel door.

"Welcome back, my queen." The short little fat man, obviously named Howard, said. When he looked towards Serena, Serena was happily amazed that the man was shorter than she was. "And who is this?"

Abigail looked to Serena for her to introduce herself. Serena took the hint. "My name is…" Serena thought about what name she wanted to give. "My name is Serenity."

"Where are you from?"

"The Moon rotating around Earth."

Howard gasped. He looked to Abigail for confirmation. At her nod, he bowed down. Serena stood amazed as person after person, people she had never even met before, bowed to her. Even Abigail bowed to her. As soon as Abigail stood up, everyone else followed.

Abigail, pleased that her people knew who the rightful queen was, grabbed Serena's wrist to make her follow. They made their way slowly through the throngs of people. Serena was embarrassed. Abigail was still queen after all, wasn't she?

"Where are we going?" Serena finally found her voice to ask.

"Along with this fort is a castle. Because we are royalty that's where we'll be staying."

"Oh." Serena couldn't think of anything else to say. Abigail had said it so matter of fact-ly, that it made Serena sound dumb. She hadn't meant to sound like that, but this wasn't her planet! She didn't know about the forts and the people! She thought because of that Abigail would give her a little leeway!

"Her majesty has finally returned." A snide remark caught the cousins' attention. Standing on the steps to the castle was a tall light brown haired woman.

Abigail groaned. This wasn't what she wanted to face today. "Greetings Isabel. I trust you are faring well."

"We have all been faring rather well, but now that you are back, I suppose things will go back to being as they were."

Abigail took a deep breath at the woman's words. This wasn't going to bother her today. She had found Serena, that was all that mattered today.

Isabel was about to say more, but before she could, Abigail made her excuses to go and teach Serena how to properly use her powers.

"Great. So you brought a girl that was as useless as you are. Figures. Only you could sink so low as to mock our pain."

"This is my planet, Isabel! Maybe you haven't noticed, but Eris used to have two suns, and it used to be a desert planet. You are not the only suffering." Serena had straightened to her full height when the other woman accused her of being useless. If she was already useless, she didn't want to give the evil woman anymore fire power to shoot back at her. Finally the woman walked away, still complaining, of course.

"Who was that?" Serena asked.

"Our loyal subject," Abigail answered sarcastically. "Her name is Isabel, and she too is a Crystal Ruler. Hers guards over earthen objects."

"Is she always that rude?"

"When you are queen Serena, you will find that not everyone will always like you. Sometimes you must focus on their well being, rather than on them as an individual."

"Are there others?"

"Others that hate me? Of course! But only three people really make it known. You've met one; you'll meet the others tomorrow."

"Are they crystal rulers, too?"

"Yes, now follow me. You need to get your sleep." Abigail led Serena through the castle, to a door that looked as old as the ground itself. Abigail opened it and led the way inside. It was very warm inside with a fire at one corner of the room. It was decorated in gold, red, and yellow. It wasn't what she was used to, but she supposed she could get used to it.

"For now, you will get your own room, but if we need your Darien, your friends, Darien, and you will all have to share a room." Serena nodded her agreement, almost wishing to need her friends even though it meant that their side was losing.

"What will we be doing tomorrow?" Serena asked.

"As of right now, we'll be training you."

"We?"

"Some crystal rulers are still loyal to me." With a small smile, Abigail sighed. "There are extra clothes in the closet," she gestured towards the door near the fireplace, "they may be a bit old fashioned, but they will suit you well."

Abigail waited while Serena walked over to the closet. Serena was amazed. All of the clothes reminded her of her future self's clothing. The closet was pack to the top.

"This used to be your parent's room, so all of the clothes in there are theirs."

"Which explains the tuxedos. Why are they purple?"

"Long story. You must sleep now, Serena. We shall talk more on the morrow."

Serena nodded, but Abigail didn't see it; she was already out the door. Serena quickly got changed and pulled back the covers to the massive bed. She was just climbing in when she realized she had only been up for a couple of hours. She was so exhausted though, she hadn't even thought of it. Smiling, she got into the bed, and as soon as her head hit the pillow she was asleep.

She slept well and heavy through the night. She didn't wake up once.

Then Abigail had to go and ruin it.

"Serena? Serena, you have to get up now."

"No…I don't want too!"

"Serena! Get up now!" From the tone of her voice, Serena figured Abigail had been trying to wake her up for several minutes already.

"I'm up; I'm up! What do you want?" Serena gave Abigail the nastiest glare she could muster, at her laugh it wasn't enough.

"We have to go."

"Go where?"

"Pharaoh saw us come in yesterday. He has requested an audience with us and two others on neutral territory. We have to leave now if we are to ever make it there on time."

Serena stumbled out of bed and over to the closet. She grabbed a dress, and threw it on over her nightgown. She brushed her hair out quickly.

"You look fine. Here's a cloak let's go." Serena threw the cloak over her shoulders, then ran to catch up to Abigail. They all but ran out of the room to get to the front door. At the bottom of the steps waiting for them were two men and four horses.

"Serena, meet William and Timothy. Other than that we have no time for pleasantries. You can introduce yourselves properly later." Both cousins leaped onto their horses, then took off at a gallop. The gates were already opened, so they didn't stop.

For ten minutes they rode in a heavy silence. When they came upon what looked to be a type of Stonehenge, Serena figured that they had arrived. The air got colder, the closer they got. Abigail and Serena were the first off their horses and walking towards the ruins.

"Serena, don't speak unless spoken to. If you have to interrupt, interrupt me, not him." Serena didn't question Abigail's command. She knew Abigail was doing it for her safety.

"Queens Abigail and Serenity. Welcome." Serena looked at the gruesome face, she had tried so long ago to forget.


	8. Chapter 8

I do not own Sailor Moon, or any of the things I also mention.

**Evolution**

**

* * *

Last Time On Sailor Moon**

* * *

"Serena? Serena, you have to get up now."

"No…I don't want too!"

"Serena! Get up now!" From the tone of her voice, Serena figured Abigail had been trying to wake her up for several minutes already.

"I'm up; I'm up! What do you want?" Serena gave Abigail the nastiest glare she could muster, at her laugh it wasn't enough.

"We have to go."

"Go where?"

"Pharaoh saw us come in yesterday. He has requested an audience with us and two others on neutral territory. We have to leave now if we are to ever make it there on time."

Serena stumbled out of bed and over to the closet. She grabbed a dress, and threw it on over her nightgown. She brushed her hair out quickly.

"You look fine. Here's a cloak let's go." Serena threw the cloak over her shoulders, then ran to catch up to Abigail. They all but ran out of the room to get to the front door. At the bottom of the steps waiting for them were two men and four horses.

"Serena, meet William and Timothy. Other than that we have no time for pleasantries. You can introduce yourselves properly later." Both cousins leaped onto their horses, then took off at a gallop. The gates were already opened, so they didn't stop.

For ten minutes they rode in a heavy silence. When they came upon what looked to be a type of Stonehenge, Serena figured that they had arrived. The air got colder, the closer they got. Abigail and Serena were the first off their horses and walking towards the ruins.

"Serena, don't speak unless spoken to. If you have to interrupt, interrupt me, not him." Serena didn't question Abigail's command. She knew Abigail was doing it for her safety.

"Queens Abigail and Serenity. Welcome." Serena looked at the gruesome face, she had tried so long ago to forget.

**

* * *

Chapter 8—Practice**

* * *

Serena had to get her emotions under control. Right now her heart was pounding so hard, she feared it would burst from her chest. The ugly face that was now turned towards her made her sick. She turned her head away, praying that the image would one day leave her mind.

"We're here, just like you requested Pharaoh. Now what do you want?" Abigail was most definitely the strong one in their group. Her back was as straight as a lance, and she actually looked bored.

"There is no concept of small talk with you is there?" Pharaoh sneered.

"Why would we want to have small talk with you?" William stepped up. He put his hand on the small of Abigail's back, as if giving her strength.

"I wish to propose a truce."

Abigail considered it. Serena couldn't believe it. Pharaoh deserved to die the most humiliating, painful way possible—and she wanted a truce?  
"On what conditions?"

"You will surrender your planet, and the planet of Serenity over to me."

"I would never," she snarled.

"Oh really? Would you be able to watch as your people died?" Pharaoh threatened. He waved his hand at the people he had brought with him. As they walked forward, Abigail and William both gasped. Along with his minions came a woman and a man. "If you surrender then they won't die…"

"You'll just kill us all anyways." Abigail's voice shook. She obviously knew the people Pharaoh had brought forward. Serena's gaze went between William and Abigail. She agreed with Abigail's stance on Pharaoh's ploy, but to just stand idly by and watch two people you know die? That brings up another matter entirely. Neither the woman nor the man looked scared. Serena cocked her head wondering if what was happening was real.

Abigail and William looked ready to give into the madman's demands. Serena knew they shouldn't. William was gazing intently at Abigail, his hand still on the small of her back. Abigail was looking down, her hands moving rapidly along the ground, her lips moving as she went through all the pros and cons. Whether or not she was considering giving up two whole planets, for two people, Serena didn't want to know. Serena prayed that she was considering another truce and not about sacrificing billions of people.

She gazed intently at the two people. The woman's eyes were lifeless, her lips a pale color to go along with her face. The man looked similar.

_That is not normal!_ Serena thought. She tried to recall what Darien had taught her about CPR. He had said that if anyone's lips or finger nails were blue in color, they didn't have air.

Serena looked closely at the people's lips. They weren't blue, but neither were they a healthy pink. She tried to look at their finger nails.

She gasped.

Their hands looked as if they were stiff as boards. The fingers were straight and together, almost as if someone taped them like that. Serena's gaze went back to their eyes. While Pharaoh's and his minions' eyes were watching their every move, the woman and the man's eyes remained looking forward, never blinking. From all of Serena's health classes, the teachers had drilled into her mind that blinking was a necessity for life. Without blinking, the eyes would dry up. If the two people weren't blinking then that meant that—

"She will never give up her planet nor mine!" Serena called out. Pharaoh looked insulted that she had actually dared to talk without first being spoken to. Serena didn't care.

Abigail and William both flipped to look at her. They looked at her as if they thought that she was crazy.

"Lady Serenity," the other man—Timothy—started, "I don't think you understand. Her majesty is trying to think of a way to handle a truce so that billions of lives are saved and so are those two people."

Serena had forgotten all about him; he had been so quiet. She had actually jumped when he had spoken to her. She hadn't been listening though. She had been looking straight into Abigail's eyes. She blinked rapidly a couple times then looked over to the man and woman. Understanding dawned in both Abigail and William's eyes. Quickly they turned towards the man and woman.

"Lady Serenity, are you listening to me?" Timothy asked.

"Of course but I do believe that Abigail believes my suggestion."

Pharaoh was getting angry. He had planned everything perfectly. How dare a little insignificant Earthling ruin all of his well laid plans! "Do you wish for these people to die, Abigail?"

"You will refer to me as your Majesty, and I return Queen Serenity's sentiments." Her eyes focused back on Pharaoh. "It will be a cold day in hell before I would turn over billions of people for two corpses."

"What a coincidence, I'm headed there next." Pharaoh snickered before he disappeared. The man and woman fell over as Pharaoh's minions also disappeared. Their bodies didn't even bounce as they hit the ground. They stayed motionless, their eyes still open, their arms still pinned to their sides.

"Were you actually considering giving up billions of people for their lives?" Serena asked quietly.

"Never! I was thinking through the prisoners that Pharaoh wants back. I was trying to decide which one would be the best bet to save their lives." Abigail answered as she walked over to the bodies.

"You have prisoners of war?"

"Of course." Timothy answered. "Doesn't Earth also keep prisoners when there is a war going on?"

"Of course, but then at the end we negotiate and decide who lives and who dies."

"Really?"

Serena nodded.

"We just kill all of the ones we don't want."

Serena winced and shivered as goose bumps spread all over her arms. Timothy was a bit weird for her tastes, so she walked over to William and Abigail who were looking at the corpses. "Do you know who they were?"

"The woman's name was Cynthia, and the man's name was Carrick. They were married just about two months ago. Cynthia had been my lady in waiting since I was young. We were great friends."

Serena placed her hand on Abigail's shoulder in sympathy.

"Abigail, we shouldn't stay here any longer than possible. We are vulnerable here." William suggested. He had let Abigail have her moment with her friend, but now they really had to go. He pulled the two queens away from the corpses. "Come." He whispered to Abigail.

"We can't just leave them here," Serena protested.

"Serena, we have neither the time nor the sources to bring them back and bury them."

"And none of that will matter if both of you are dead." Timothy railed. Serena and Abigail walked in single file behind Timothy and ahead of William. They got onto their horses and galloped back towards the fort as fast as they could. After ten minutes had passed they rode into the fort.

As soon as Serena had gotten off her horse, Abigail grabbed her hand and William's and she pulled them in the direction that led to the back of the castle.

"Where are we going?" Serena asked. She had to run to keep up with Abigail. She didn't want to run! She wanted to go back to sleep. A sudden thought over came her—maybe she should just drop and let Abigail pull her.

"It is time for you to train," came back the unexpected response.

At those words Serena almost did drop. "No! No way! I don't want to train. I want to go back to bed. I'm so tired, and it's still early."

Abigail laughed. "Serena, it is already noon! Come you must train."

"And why is _he_ coming with us?"

"Who better to help you train than two people? One to tell you what you're doing wrong and the other one to force you to use your power."

"What?" William and Serena both shouted. Fortunately for them, they didn't have to get dragged anywhere, for Abigail had already stopped.

"Serena, you stay here. And William…you will go…fifty paces in that direction." Abigail smiled sweetly and pointed north. William's eyes narrowed, but did as she told him to do.

"What am I going to have to do?" Serena asked. If William was anywhere near as strong as Abigail was, Serena was going to be beaten severely.

"You are going to protect me from William's crystal blast."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, he has a crystal too?"

"Of course! So does Timothy. Okay, on the count of three, Serena protect me from the blast."

_I am in so much trouble. How the heck did I get in this situation?_

"…three!"

Two hours later, they were in the same position, and Serena was still failing miserably.

"Serena, you have to focus!" Abigail said in a tone that indicated she was close to losing her patience.

"What do you think I've been doing? I promise you, Abby, I have been trying. I just can't seem to get it right."

"Well, what are you thinking about?"

"I'm thinking about trying to save Darien and my friends. I don't see what I'm doing wrong."

"Really?" Abigail was confused. She was using the same method she had taught three other people with and what she had been taught with. It had worked with all of them up until now. "Okay, you said that you had been getting choked when the crystal manifested its power, correct?"

Serena nodded in the affirmative.

Abigail thought about it for a second. "Let's try it a different way this time. Stop thinking about your friends. Maybe it only reacts when you're in battle and your life is on the line."

"Okay…" Serena sounded doubtful.

"William, fire another dose towards Serena." Abigail gave the order, and William winced. He was getting tired of training Serena. Mainly because he hated being the trainer, but also because he knew what he was dishing out was nothing compared to what Pharaoh was attacking the other forts with. With each fort that fell, more of Abigail's people died. All over the planet were forts similar to the one they were currently staying in. Some holding a couple hundred people, others holding up to a couple hundred thousand people. He couldn't imagine what Abigail was feeling. She had more than once cried on his shoulder when a certain fort fell.

"William?" He broke out of his thoughts when he heard Abigail call his name. Both she and Serena were looking expectantly at him. _Here goes nothing._ William raised his hands and focused his crystal energy into them. Millions of tiny daggers came rushing towards Serena.

_There's no one around to help you. They've all abandoned you. You're all alone. They're never going to be coming back. You have to learn to defend yourself. You're all alone. No friends, no Darien, no family, no one to confide in. Alone for the rest of time._ Serena thought. She had closed her eyes, but now as she opened them again, she saw the daggers flying towards her. Serena raised her hands similar to what William was doing and prayed that it would work.

A white light started to spark.

She was doing it; she was actually doing it. It wasn't strong enough yet. She closed her eyes and continued to think.

_Your planet will be gone. You alone will remain. _With each thought, the white light grew purer, grew stronger.

_You will never have anyone ever again. _The ground started to shake as the light exploded from her hands. A full minute passed before she opened her eyes again. When she did, she saw that both Abigail and William were on the rears.

"Did I do it?" She asked hesitantly.

"Can't you tell?" William asked as he fell backwards so that his entire back was on the ground. Serena turned towards Abigail. Abigail was smiling from ear to ear.

"If you have that kind of power, we might actually stand a chance at winning."

* * *

So was it as lame as I thought it was? Let me know your thoughts. By the way I would really appreciate it you guys pointed out any grammar or spelling mistakes that you think are absolutely ridiculous. Thanks for reading. :)


	9. Chapter 9

I do not own Sailor Moon, or any of the things I also mention.

**Evolution**

**Last Time On Sailor Moon**

The ground started to shake as the light exploded from her hands. A full minute passed before she opened her eyes again. When she did, she saw that both Abigail and William were on their rears.

"Did I do it?" She asked hesitantly.

"Can't you tell?" William asked as he fell backwards so that his entire back was on the ground. Serena turned towards Abigail. Abigail was smiling from ear to ear.

"If you have that kind of power, we might actually stand a chance at winning."

**Chapter 9—Meeting the Others**

A couple minutes passed as Abigail stared into space thinking about what was going to happen. When she looked over to Serena she almost laughed. The girl that had just seconds shown the most amazing power Abigail had ever seen was now lying prostrate on the ground.

"We won't win this war if she can't stay awake." William commented as he lifted himself up off the ground.

"She'll be ready." Abigail said smiling. She motioned for two guards that were struggling to stand up. Apparently the earthquake was stronger than either Abigail or William had realized. As soon as they came close, she told them to bring Serena to her room.

"We can't base this war on your feelings Abigail! People's lives are at stake!"

Abigail looked sharply at William. He had never spoken to her like that. "What is wrong with you?"

"Nothing is wrong with me! I really don't relish the idea of putting my life and the lives of my people and comrades in the hands of a child that can't stay awake to save her life!"

Abigail opened her mouth to rebuke William, but before she could fully form the first word, another crystal ruler came up.

"We agree with William, Abigail."

"We? So I assume that you are talking for everyone, Isabel, or are you presumptuous enough to say your own thoughts for everyone else?" Abigail said coldly.

The woman fell silent. Abigail's eyes drifted from one person to the next.

"I agree with you, Abigail." A young woman with green hair spoke up. She stepped forward to stand behind her queen.

"I also agree with Abigail." This time a man stepped forward to stand behind Abigail. Slowly six people did the same thing said the same thing then went to stand behind their queen, leaving Isabel and her cohorts and William.

"So William, you wish to join with the traitors?" Timothy asked as he stood behind Abigail.

"I would do no such thing! The fact remains though that we have no idea who this Serena is because Abigail doesn't find it convenient enough to tell us!"

"Is that what this is all about? You are so petty because you wish to know who she is? For this you could have asked her yourself." Abigail said rolling her eyes. "If you wish to know, then you will have to ask her for it isn't my place to be telling."

Abigail and everyone that followed her, turned around to go back into the castle.

"Will she be joining us for the meeting later on today?" Someone asked.

"Yes she will." Abigail started to walk over to Serena's room. She stopped and told her followers that the meeting would be taking place that evening at six, then she continued on her way. She walked down the hallway towards Serena's room and came to a stop at the door. She relaxed her shoulders before she opened the door. Serena was just starting to stir.

"Serena," Abigail crooned.

"What happened?" Serena asked as she woke up more fully.

"You fainted."

"Did you argue with someone? I could have sworn that I heard arguing."

"Very soon we will discover who will stand by us and who would rather die before giving their allegiances to us."

"Who were you arguing with?"

"William, Isabel, Ian, and Josiah."

Serena immediately remembered William and the traitorous Isabel, but the other two names she didn't recall. "Who are Ian and Josiah?"

"They are in the same league as Isabel. They believe the exact same way she does. You will meet them and the rest of the crystal rulers tonight. For now, get up, and we shall go eat."

Eat…food. Serena was suddenly out of the bed and in front of the mirror making sure her hair was alright before she left her bedroom. Abigail laughed. Just talking to Serena made her feel better. She still didn't understand why William was acting that way. _Maybe it was just a fluke thing. Maybe he really didn't mean it, but what if he did? What if it wasn't a fluke? _

"Well, are we going?" Serena asked.

Abigail jerked from her thoughts. She had been so concerned over William that she hadn't even noticed that Serena was already waiting for her at the doorway. "I'll lead the way to the kitchen."

"The kitchen?" Serena asked, confused.

"Yes, it's where the food is prepared."

"I know what a kitchen is. I just figured that since you were the queen that you would eat in a more spectacular place…like a dining room."

"There are some people that I really don't want to see right now."

"Ah." Serena followed Abigail through the hallways. The entire time she was thinking up different questions about her past and about her family. By the time they actually reached the kitchen Serena had at least a thousand questions ready.

"Hello, Samantha, how are you?" Abigail acknowledged the cook. The cook smiled and prepared the food for the two queens.

"I noticed you were awfully quiet in the hall, Serena. Are there any questions you want to ask me?"

"We might be here all day if I ask you all the questions that I want." Serena cautioned. Abigail just smiled not saying a word.

"I hardly know where to begin." Serena through her questions; carefully considering which one should go first. "Where were you when the Moon kingdom was attacked?"

Abigail took a deep breath. "I was on the moon with you. My armies were on the way to the moon, getting ready to defend it in case of attack. They were too late."

"What were you doing on the moon with me?"

"I'm your cousin, Serena. Isn't it normal on earth for all family members to be invited to a coming out ball?"

"It was my coming out ball? I wish I could remember this."

"It was such a lavish event. Aunt Serenity made sure that you were the only one wearing white and that no one was wearing black. The dinner consisted of almost every imaginable food. Man after man asked you to dance, but you had eyes only for one man. So many were jealous that you said yes to Endymion and not to them." Abigail took a deep breath, her eyes going sad as she remembered what happened next. "Not ten minutes after Endymion asked you out to the terrace, Beryl attacked. She attacked with such force and such treachery, no one ever saw it coming. None of the armies were ready, no one was prepared. She targeted each of the crystal rulers that were there. In your case she targeted you to get back Aunt Serenity."

"Why weren't you reborn again on earth?"

"Like I said, my armies were too late, but they wouldn't let me die alone on the moon. So they took my body back to my home and they healed me. Since then I have been in a type of non aging state. I stopped aging at your coming out ball."

"What is your relationship to William?" Serena asked, quickly changing the subject.

Abigail had to reload her thoughts. Serena had changed the subject so quickly, Abigail wasn't prepared at all. In fact she was going to tell Serena more about her mother and father.

"Why do you want to know that?"

"I'm just curious. You're really upset right now because you argued with William, and you guys seemed really close when we were at the meeting with Pharaoh." Before Abigail could answer Serena, Samantha brought their food out to them.

"We are engaged. Lately though he has gotten rather cold."

Serena's heart hurt. It felt like it would just stop. "Do you know why?"

"I want to think that it is because he's scared and because his planet is on the list to be destroyed, but I am not entirely sure."

"Do you think that he could—"

"Enough about me. Tell me about you and your Prince."

For the next hour, Serena told Abigail everything that had happened since she had been reborn. She didn't leave anything out. When she got to the part about Diamond controlling the black diamond, Abigail's face went pale. She said something to the effect of 'no wonder you were so scared of me,' but Serena hadn't minded. After that she continued to tell her about the monsters that had been happening just before Abigail had come for her.

"Why were your friends looking for you that day?" Abigail asked.

"They had actually been looking for me for two days prior to that. They were supposed to meet me at my house that morning…wait, how did you know that they had been looking for me."

"You did not see them? They were at the dock where I found you."

"They had followed me…I didn't even know that they were there. Were they there long enough to see me leave with you?"

"Serena, they were there the entire time. Pharaoh had sent some of his goonies to find you; they were fighting them."

"But I-I turned around, and they weren't there. How could they have been there the entire time?" Serena wasn't crying yet, but she was very close to it.

"It must have been my crystal." Abigail said, closing her eyes to think about it.

"What do you mean?"

"Whenever I go into enemy territory, my crystal provides me with a protective barrier that lets everyone see inside, and I can see out, but if someone is in it with me then apparently they can't see outside to know the dangers." When Abigail's eyes opened she looked straight into Serena's.

"It's never happened before?"

"When we met with Pharaoh this morning did you see anything besides him?"

Serena shook her head. "Were there enemies?"

"We were surrounded. We wouldn't have gotten out of there alive if you hadn't called his bluff." Abigail covered her mouth with her hand.

"Suddenly, I'm not hungry anymore."

Abigail laughed at Serena's words. "What would you like to do Your Majesty?"

"Can we go practice more? I would like to be able to stay awake after I use my attack." Serena said after some careful consideration. She was actually really tired right now, but the sun was still high in the sky, so she wasn't going to ask for a nap.

"You are still new at this Serena, it will take some time."

"I know, but I really want to make everyone proud."

"Okay, we can go practice." Abigail and Serena got up from the table, thanked the cook, and walked through the building to get to the outside. In the hallway, Abigail asked a girl to help Serena practice. The girl's smile went wide as she agreed.

"I would love to help you, Your Majesty."

"Anna, it would be Your _Majesties_." Abigail corrected. The girl looked confused. "Serena, why don't you introduce yourself?"

"Anna is it?" The girl smiled and nodded her head. "I am Princess Serenity of the Silver Millennium Moon Kingdom. And soon to be queen in Abigail's place when she sees that I am ready."

The girl gasped and instantly fell to the floor. "Forgive me, your Majesty, I did not know."

"Don't bow to me." Serena said. "Come; help me practice, so that I may be ready." Serena helped her off the floor, then hooked her arm with Anna's and followed Abigail outside. She led them straight to the spot where Serena had previously fainted. Abigail positioned Serena in the middle with Anna to the north and herself to the south.

"Serena, this will be a little bit more of a challenge. Your crystal reacted when it felt that you were in danger. Our attacks won't hurt you, but you must remember whatever it was that you thought this morning with William. Anna, I want you to throw your least powerful charge straight toward Serena on the count of three. Ready?"

Anna nodded her head.

"One…" _No one can help you_, Serena thought.

"Two…" _You're all by yourself. You're going to die._

"Three!" _No one can save you, you have to save yourself._

The attacks spiraled towards Serena. Abigail winced, waiting to see if Serena was going to be able to block them. She had her doubts until the ground beneath her feet started vibrating. The vibrating turned into shaking just as the attacks closed in on Serena. A white light blinked, then everything was suddenly gone. The ground had stopped shaking, the light was gone, and Serena was still awake on her own feet.

"You did it Serena!" Abigail rushed forward and hugged her cousin. "All it needs is a bit more work, and then you'll be able to fight alongside us."

"Your Majesty!" A yell came before Anna could say her own congratulations. "You are being summoned to a meeting of the Council." Abigail's face paled drastically.

"We're on our way."

"Abigail, what's going on?" Serena asked. She had started to wobble a bit, but Anna grabbed her to help steady her.

"A meeting was just called. I have a feeling it will be about the altercation this morning."

"Should her Majesty, Serenity, be brought to her quarters?" Anna asked.

"No. The Council surely would have seen the white light. If we bring her to her room, everyone will have questions."

"But she is not well."

"She will be well enough for this." Abigail looked to Serena. "Serena, I swear to God, if you faint while you are in there, I will put you out in the middle of the desert to let Pharaoh kill you." With that being said, Abigail walked away. Anna helped Serena make it to the meeting room.

"You don't think she'd really do that, do you?" Serena asked.

Anna winced. "She said that only once before to someone."

"What happened to him?"

"Don't know. That's sort of where the story ends. Come we must hurry." As soon as they reached the outside of the meeting hall, Anna got Serena back on her own two feet, then helped her to straighten her hair and dress. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door. She passed through the portal first and held the door open for Serena before shutting it quietly.

"We would have thought you would have been asleep now." Isabel said towards Serena.

"I am stronger than you think." Serena responded, hiding her shaking hands behind her back.

"Whatever." Isabel shrugged of Serena's remark. Serena had never been so angry in her entire life. If Isabel knew who she was talking to, the attitude wouldn't have been dripping off her words.

"What is the meaning of this?" Abigail finally asked.

"We need you to say before the Council why you have brought someone of such low caliber to "help" us win this war." The man on the right side of Isabel asked.

"Do you think to mock us?" The man on the left side asked.

"I would do no such thing! If you haven't noticed I am suffering just as much as you all are. I believe that this girl can truly help us win the war."

"Why do you think that?" William asked.

Abigail gave him a dirty look, then said, "she has only just begun to tap into her powers. If we can help her along, we will be strong enough to defeat Pharaoh."

"We don't have that kind of time. Pharaoh is already at our doorstep!"

"She is awake is she not? We have just had a practice session. Her powers are stronger than I have previously thought. All she needs to learn is how to harness them. With a couple more practice sessions, she will be ready."

Serena started to close her eyes. She was so tired and she hadn't even been in the room for five minutes. She tried to focus on the conversation, but she was just so tired.

"She wouldn't mind showing us her power then would she?" Isabel asked. She knew. She must have known. Why else would that annoying smile be on her lips? Why else would she be looking over at Serena?

"I do not think that now would be the best time." Abigail said tentatively.

"Why not? Is the poor girl too tired? Would she rather be in bed right now?"

"Yes actually she would."

Isabel jerked back she had been expecting something a little different.

"The time on my planet is vastly different than the time on her planet. Though it is daylight here, it would be darkest night on her planet. So you can tell why she is tired. Until she adjusts she will have a different schedule than the rest of us."

Isabel scoffed.

"Isabel," Anna started, "as I recall, you too were like this when you first came here. Maybe you should remember what you went through. Especially considering that you were sleeping three different times during the day and the same at night." Anna and Abigail both helped Serena out of the room.

"I'm almost thankful she said that." Serena said, sleepily.

"Why?"

"It got me out of there quicker." When Anna and Abigail laughed, everyone filed out of the meeting room going their separate ways.

**Sailor Moon**

It was exactly five hours after the meeting. Dusk was still a few hours away, but now was the perfect time for a private meeting. Three people met just outside of the palace. Where they were they could see everyone, but no one could see them. What they were talking about, would only stay between them, so they felt comfortable in talking freely, whether it was about Abigail and her weakling friend or the fast approaching plans.

"Do you think what Abigail said was true about the blond girl?" A dark haired man asked the other two.

"Does it matter? By the time they find out, our plan will already be in motion. There will be nothing she can do to stop us." Another man answered the first's question.

"When do we meet with Pharaoh?"

"He said that as soon as he attacks the fortress, he will draw his troops back. That will be our sign to come and meet with him." The third person responded.

As soon as everyone knew the signal, they disbanded and went their separate ways. The same thing was on each of their minds: Abigail would no longer be in control of the universe. Their true king would be.

"All hail, Pharaoh. King, no, Emperor of the Universe. Leader of the Council." The dark haired man whispered.

* * *

I know. I crammed a lot of info into this chapter, but hopefully you all still got something out of it. I hope you enjoyed it.


	10. Chapter 10

I do not own Sailor Moon or any of the other things I mention.

**Evolution**

**Chapter 10a--Attacking Tokyo**

Darien got up slowly. It had been almost one month since Serena had disappeared. When she had first disappeared, he had been frantic with worry. The worry had slowly changed into anger, and now…now he was just numb. He normally got up before the sun rose to get a quick run in, just like Serena had done.

Now it was officially too cold to run. Though it was kind of expected, it was also very unusual. Darien walked over to his balcony as his thoughts continued to torture him.

There had been no monsters since Serena disappeared. Almost as if she was their only target, either that or they were scared for some reason.

Serena's communicator went off.

After she had disappeared, the girls had gotten in the car and taken everything that would give anyone a hint about who she really was. After they had, they left the car exactly where it had been. Mr. and Mrs. Tsukino had called the police immediately, telling them that a bunch of her friends had gone to look for her and hadn't returned just yet. And although, Mr. Tsukino said that he was mad about the car, they kept telling the police that they would rather have their daughter back than their car.

As what was expected, they only found the car.

Darien was secretly wishing that they would find her somewhere, even though he knew it wouldn't happen.

The campground officials had said that there had been a lot of unusual hydro activity earlier that morning, and that particular dock, where the car had been found, was currently closed to the public because of severe flooding conditions. The police had thus determined that it was a force of nature accident, assuming that the water activity had washed Serena into the water. After that, everything quieted down, and everyone accepted, except Darien and the girls, that Serena died in an accident. The funeral was held with just a picture remembering her life.

Darien walked over to the communicator. "Yeah," he answered.

"We have a big problem on the bridge," came Raye's voice.

"Are you serious?" Darien asked incredulously.

"Yeah, and it's a _big_ problem."

"How big is big?"  
"Oh…um…I don't know…five hundred or so." Raye replied sarcastically.

"I'll be right there." Darien quickly transformed. He was about to jump off his balcony when his building started to tremble. It didn't feel like an earthquake's shake, but more of a light tremor. He looked around him. Tokyo was in the midst of a midday break. People were out walking around, not knowing what was going on. When he looked east, coming over the horizon, he saw what was causing the trembling.

He grabbed for Serena's communicator. "Raye, are they still at the bridge?" He nearly screamed into it. Not caring that he used her Christian name instead of Sailor Mars.

"Yeah, Mercury says their numbers are at six-hundred and still rising." She sounded out of breath. "Get your butt down here."

Darien shook his head. "No, you guys need to get back to the city now!"  
"But they'll destroy the bridge!"

"Let them! Tokyo comes first!"

Raye finally connected the dots. "We still need to get some people off the bridge, we'll be there soon." The communicator turned off. Darien jumped to a lower building so he could watch the march. _Serena, where are you? We need your help_, Darien thought as an army of what looked like the undead marched towards him.

He was scared. He didn't know what was happening. Why did the monsters choose now to start coming? It had been a peaceful three and a half weeks—even if they had been frantically searching for Serena during that time.

"Do we know what they are yet?" Sailor Mars asked as she came up behind him.

"It's not what, but who." Sailor Mercury responded before he could even say he had no idea.

"What do you mean?" Sailor Jupiter asked.

"According to my scans, each of them has a steady heartbeat. Whereas most of the monsters we face, were just inanimate objects turned into a living, moving form."

"So those are humans?" Sailor Venus clarified.

"I'm guess. If I could get some fluid from them, then I could be—"

"Ewww!"

"You're just like—" Sailor Mars stopped short before she said 'Serena.' Since the blond meatball head had disappeared, everyone had been practically tiptoeing around even mentioning her name. It wasn't just in front of Darien. Everyone was hurt concerning how she had disappeared.

The girls glanced over towards Tuxedo Mask, wondering if he was going to get upset. They were rather startled when they saw a small smile on his face.

He gave a small laugh. "The only difference between them would be that Serena would have stuck out her tongue."

"You're right, she would have." Mercury said, softly. "Do you think she's all right?"

"We can only hope and pray she's better off than we are about to be." Mars replied, her psychic's eye focused on the enemy.

Tuxedo Mask's focus turned back to the marching enemy. _Serena_, he thought, _we could really use your help right now._


	11. Chapter 11

I do not own Sailor Moon or any of the other things I mention.

**Evolution**

**Chapter 10b--The Truth**

It had been five days since the meeting. The other crystal rulers had left her alone, but she always had a strange feeling. It had started two nights ago, when she had woken up from a nightmare. She didn't know what it was or how it had gone wrong, but there was this funny feeling inside of her that she just couldn't shake. Even though she had no idea of what this funny feeling was, she knew without a doubt that it had something to do with earth. Maybe she could convince Abigail to get Darien and the Scouts for her.

Serena got out of the bed and brushed her long blond hair. With each stroke she thought up a new scenario that each ended with Darien at the blunt end of Pharaoh's sword. She had to get them out of there. Forgoing her hair, Serena wrapped her hair into her traditional meatballs and ran out of her room. When she ran past Anna talking with William, she skidded to a halt. Anna started to bow, but with a swift shake of the head from Serena, she stopped.

"Can I help you with anything, Serena?" Anna ground out. Serena knew the tone wasn't from lack of trust or simple dislike, but rather from not letting William know that she was the rightful queen.

Serena took a deep breath, then asked calmly, "have either of you seen Abigail?"

William shook his head.

"The last time I saw her was in the library," Anna whispered. "She spends most of her time there. I'll bet she's still there." Anna raised a hand and pointed towards the way that Serena had come running.

"Thank you. Good day Anna…William." Serena gave a small bow of her head then walked off towards the direction that Anna pointed her to. Serena didn't want to open up every door on the way to the library, but there was no way she was going to find it under any other circumstances.

The first door she opened up was another hallway. The second door was another room. The third door was yet another room. Finally on the fourth door, Serena was allowed to see the majestic library. This library put even the most famous of libraries on earth to shame. The architecture was gothic with dark cherry wood. Paintings covered most of one wall, while another wall was home to an extremely large fireplace. The ceiling would have made the Sistine Chapel look puny. The paintings covering it showed astronomical bodies such as nebulas, stars, planets, and moons. Serena could easily point out earth in the midst of the planets. The last two walls were covered floor to ceiling with books. Over forty meters up these books went.

"Oh…my…" Serena breathed.

"Magnificent isn't it?" Serena jumped at Abigail's soft words. "I didn't mean to startle you."

"This is beautiful!" Serena walked over to the painting wall to look into everyone's face. Men were vastly dominant and the only women that could be found were at the very top of the wall. "Who are all of these people?"

"Kings and queens of Eris. The bottom ones are the first kings while those towards the top are the more "recent" rulers."

"Can we see the ones at the top?"

Abigail nodded then led the way to a winding metal staircase Serena hadn't even seen. "I didn't even see this."

"It's easy enough to miss. With the way the library is arranged you could go for days without even noticing it." Slowly they made their way up the stairs. As soon as the paintings were in Serena's eye sight, she gasped and stopped. Abigail stopped right beside her and put her arm around Serena's shoulders.

"My mom…" Serena whispered.

"Exactly." Abigail led Serena up to the portrait.

"Is that my father?" The brilliant portrait had Queen Serenity sitting down beside a standing man.

"Yes, King Julius, your father and my uncle."

"He was very handsome." Serena looked longingly up at the photo of her mom and dad.

"He was that and more. Although I hadn't known him for long when you guys left Eris, it was always said that he was nice to a fault, very trusting, and known simply as a friend to his people. Similar things were said about your mother. It was always 'she is so beautiful, and her attitude matches her beauty.'"

There was a quiet moment, until Serena remembered that Abigail had said that this was a wall for kings and queens of Eris. "Why are my parents on this wall? You said it was for kings and queens of Eris."

"It is. My father was the younger brother of Uncle Julius. And because Uncle was the eldest he assumed the throne. Five years after I was born and one after you were, war broke out in the Milky Way. My mother was from Saturn and yours from Venus, so they obviously felt a strong connection to the galaxy, but your mother more so. In order to keep the peace and keep the war from moving anywhere near Eris, your father and mother moved to the Moon and in a very short time established the Moon Kingdom."

"He's wearing a purple suit!" Serena practically shouted as she was gazing at the painting.

Abigail laughed. "According to all the history books, he's wearing that particular suit because my father dared him to do something and Uncle couldn't do it. So he had to wear that ridiculous looking suit for the rest of his time as king."

"What was the dare?"

"That isn't written in the history books, but according to the legend, it was to make your mother fall in love with him by their wedding day."

"My mother didn't love my father?"

"No, legend has it, not to mention, the millions of servants that saw them kissing passionately in every corridor of the castle, that she loved him very much. However when they first met, even though Uncle fell in love at first sight, Aunt Serenity believed he was a pompous jerk, just like all the other princes in the Milky Way. It was an arranged marriage, so she assumed that she could go through the entire thing without loving Uncle."

"When did she fall in love with him?"

"You see, she hadn't let on that she had heard about the bet. But with all the things that were going on between Uncle and her, she decided to let them play out their game. Uncle sent Aunt Serenity beautiful love letters and poems and red roses and everything that lovers normally send to each other. And even though she didn't love him at the beginning, she fell in love with him way before their wedding day."

"Then why is he wearing the purple suit?"

"She still thought that he was a bit pompous, so she pretended to not love him. She acted the same way she had before and even tried to be a bit meaner. She didn't think that father and Uncle would go through with the actual dare though. The day after the wedding, she was late getting up for breakfast, for…obvious reasons, so when she finally made it downstairs she saw him in the full ridiculous purple suit. She screamed bloody murder and ran up to him, but it was too late. Because she hadn't admitted to him on their wedding day in front of witnesses, he was cursed to wear the ridiculous outfit."

"What happened after that?"

"Well, Uncle hoisted Aunt Serenity into his arms and walked to their room the entire time like that. After that though, the accounts get rather fuzzy. Some say Uncle and Aunt Serenity didn't come out of their chambers for a week; others say they didn't come out for two weeks. Either way they were in there for a long time with only themselves as company."

Serena let out a long sigh. It was so romantic. "Where are your father and mother?"

Abigail pointed towards the painting just above Serena's parents. In it was a woman with long black hair and purple eyes. Next to her was a man that looked eerily similar to Serena's father.

"They were twins…"

"Yes, and they were the best of friends. People always thought that they were the best kings Eris had ever had. When your father died, it was as if a piece of mine died as well .And my mother had the same spirit as yours did. She was kind and no one ever saw her angry. My mother was often sick. When she died, she was having a baby right after getting a touch of a lung disease. In her weakened condition, having the baby was too much for her. She and my little sister died the same day when I was seventeen. My father tried to make it until my eighteenth birthday, just seven months away, but he died of a broken heart three months after my mom died."

"That's so sad."

"Yes, but only because if they had lived, the Moon Kingdom wouldn't have fallen." There was a moment of silence between them. "Why did you come find me?"

Serena had to think about it for a moment. "Oh yes, I remember. I was wondering if you could send for Darien and my other friends."

"Why?"

"Because I have a feeling something is going terribly wrong on earth."

"Like a war?"

"Sort of."

"So you want me to bring them from a war on a planet they understand and is still thriving with people and with plants, food, and water to a war on another planet that's dying?"

Serena thought about if for a brief second. "I would just like them near me."

"Yes, I know you would." Abigail's tone was sympathetic, but not full of pity. "But you will be joining them shortly anyways."

"What do you mean?"

"I have a feeling that Eris is dying.

"Eris has to survive! Because if it doesn't, then—"

"Yes, Serena I know the consequences, but unfortunately for me, this is where I belong. My people have already suffered and died only to try to help a dying planet. Now that they are mostly dead, I find that I cannot abandon them. This is my home."

"What about everything in here? You would let books and artifacts and the paintings of our families just die here with you?"

Abigail remained silent.

Serena racked her brain for a different subject because the look in Abigail's eyes showed that she was done discussing the subject. "I still have to train. Will you help me?"

"I can get Anna to help you, but for right now I have too many important things to do."

Serena nodded then let herself out of the library. She didn't really feel like practicing at that exact moment though. She knew she needed to do something to try to help Abigail. Her feet somehow led her, almost of their own accord, to the meeting room. She sat down at the table and contemplated what she should do. For over ten minutes, Serena sat by herself in the dark room, her only source of light was from a solitary candle.

Just as ten minutes was passing, a maid slipped into the room. Not seeing Serena she lit more candles then walked into a separate room that was right next to the meeting room. Serena got up and followed her, intending to ask what she was doing. The girl wasn't alone though, as Serena quickly found out. There were three other people in the room with the maid—one woman and two men.

"What did you find out?" A man asked the maid.

"Nothing, everything is very tight lipped about the new girl."

_Are they talking about me?_ Serena thought.

"Nothing? No one is talking about her or her family?"

Silence reigned.

"Who the heck did Abigail bring us? Does she think that the girl could possibly help us lose worse?"

"What about the planet? Did you find anything about Eris?"

"Only that it doesn't look good for the planet. Abigail believes that it's dying."

Someone scoffed. Serena tried to peek around the door frame, but all she could see was a purple cape attached to a very tall male. She turned back quickly before any of them could see her.

"Great, so not only does she bring us an idiot, that can't even hold her own weight with her crystal, but she tries to get us to save an already dying planet."

"We should inform Pharaoh about this." The other man said.

"Do you think that is wise?"

"Pharaoh will know what to do. He will help us."

Serena's eyes went wide as soon as Pharaoh's name was said. It took all of her strength, but she managed to walk as quietly to the door as possible. She was outside before the tears finally started coming in earnest. She collapsed right on the stone steps and just wept. She wept for the father she was never able to know, for the mother that was taken away from her far too soon, for her cousin who had her entire life turned upside down because of death after death, she wept for the Scouts and Darien because she would probably never see them again; and lastly she wept for the people of Eris, betrayed by those who they thought were supposed to help them.

"Serena? Serena, are you okay?" It was William. He came up to her and touched her shoulder, trying to get her to look at him. Serena wiped her eyes then looked up at his face. "What's the matter?"

Serena just shook her head.

William nodded, thinking that she just didn't want to talk about it, even though the truth was that there was no way, Serena would be able to get the words out. "Hey why don't we go practice with your crystal?"

"I thought that you didn't want me here."

"Yeah, I've been thinking about that. If Abigail trusts you, then I should have enough faith in her judgment that you are the hidden key to defeating Pharaoh. Now, come, let's practice."

"I don't think I should right now."

"Why?"

"My emotions are out of control. If I were to practice right now, I could hurt you or someone else." William didn't like the excuse, so he grabbed her hands and forced her to practice.

"I've spent all morning crafting a strategic place for you to really practice. With Anne and Timothy's help, I believe that we'll be able to help you be ready by the time Pharaoh wishes to meet with you again."

"I don't think I'll ever be ready to meet Pharaoh again."

"Why do you say that?"

"I…I just want to go home right now." Serena started to cry again. She missed Darien. She wanted his arms to wrap around her just to reassure her that everything was going to be all right, that she would be able to defeat Pharaoh even without the Scouts help—all by herself. She wanted the Scouts to be there for her when she returned from fighting. She wanted Abigail to understand the present dangers that her own were focusing on.

"Well, as soon as we can defeat Pharaoh, you can go home." William patted her shoulder as if to comfort her.

Serena scoffed. She wanted to go home now. "Well then let's go practice."

**SAILOR MOON**

The three that were in the meeting room finally had ended their meeting. They were going to go and tell Pharaoh about where to hit Abigail, to cause the most damage. As soon as night fell, they would ride.

Isabel watched from the window in her room as the blond, funny haired girl practiced. William threw attack after attack at her, but the girl was able to block each one. After using her crystal though, the girl grew easily tired. She had to sit down to relax her body for at least half an hour the first time she used it. The next time it was twenty minutes and then ten minutes and then five minutes. Now she could do attack after attack without even having to sit down. She still looked as if she was breathing funny when she did it, but that was slowly fading too.

"How is the brat doing?" A man named Ian asked the question, obviously referring to Serena. Ian had ruled a planet in the Balkan Nebula, called Pacifica. It had been one of the first planets to be attacked by Pharaoh.

"As far as I can tell, she's doing better than she has been. It's still taking a lot out of her though." Isabel turned away from the window as the door opened.

"Josiah, have you learned anything from Abigail yet?" Ian asked the man in the purple cape. Josiah had ruled a planet in the Mira Nebula called Kipling. After Pharaoh had discarded Pacifica he turned to Kipling.

"Abigail is extremely tight lipped about where the girl came from. All she said is that the girl would bring "salvation" to us all. Whatever that means."

"Surely someone knows who this girl is!" Isabel nearly shouted. "She couldn't just have appeared out of thin air! She had to come from a planet near to here, maybe a planet like—"

The sound of bells cut off, Isabel's shouts. The three looked out the window. The sun was just finishing sinking down below the horizon. Isabel swallowed. It was time.

"Josiah, prepare the horses." Ian whispered, not daring to take a tone louder than that. "As soon as everyone is seated for the evening meal, we depart." With a bow in Isabel's direction and nod in Josiah's, Ian left the room.

"We have less than half an hour, Isabel. Be ready." With a bow, Josiah left to do as Ian commanded.

Isabel turned to look back out the window. "Less than half an hour…" she said to herself. "In less than half an hour, I will once again be ruling a planet. I will be the new queen of the universe." She gave a shallow laugh, then started to prepare for the journey to Pharaoh's camp.

In less than half an hour, they were on their way. It would take over two hours by horse back to reach the camp, but hopefully no creatures would approach them, to make it an uneventful ride.

And an uneventful ride it was. By the time they reached Pharaoh's camp, Pharaoh already had word that they were coming. In fact he was waiting outside his camp for them.

"Ah, how lovely it is to see you three." He mocked.

"We come bringing information, my liege." Ian said, getting off his horse and bowing low to the ground. Isabel and Josiah followed suit. All Pharaoh did was raise an eyebrow.

"What kind of information?"

"The kind we will be richly rewarded for," Josiah spoke up.

Pharaoh considered the idea for a moment. "Very well. Follow me to my tent." In silence they trailed behind him right up to the largest tent in the camp. Without even going inside, it looked formidable. The man thought he was a god, and he was trying to prove it to those that followed him. Inside the tent, it looked even more frightening. Everything had an antique feel about it, but what startled them the most was that on one wall, displayed proudly, were orbs that looked disturbingly like miniature planets. While Josiah and Ian talked to Pharaoh, Isabel listened absentmindedly and gazed at one that looked like her planet.

"…so you see, my liege, we are only trying to help here." Josiah finished. It had been almost five minutes, but the man had talked so fast that, Isabel wondered if Pharaoh had even gotten any of the information.

"Let me see if I have this right. You want me to just barge into Abigail's fortress to take her?" At their nods, Pharaoh continued. "Do you not know how strong she or Serenity is?"

"Serenity is dead." Isabel answered. Pharaoh just looked at her. "Besides she had only one daughter, and that daughter died with her, when the Moon Kingdom fell."

"With her last ounce of power, Serenity gave her daughter new life on a nearby planet called Earth. That girl is queen of the universe, which also in theory makes her the strongest in the universe. A man would be crazy to wage a war against her without a plan. And your hair brained scheme, won't do the trick."

"It can't be the same girl! The girl at the palace now is weak! She can barely hold onto any of her power. She's weak!" Isabel protested.

"She's powerful—more powerful than you could ever imagine." Pharaoh smirked. "Too bad you'll never find out."

Josiah cocked his head to one side. "What do you mean?"

Before Pharaoh answered him or anyone else could ask a question, Pharaoh shot a ball of dark power straight toward Josiah. As it hit him, Josiah fell backwards. Ian checked his pulse.

"You killed him." Ian accused.

"Of course, I did."

"Why?"

"Because only one person can survive out of you three."

"Choose me." Ian yelled. "Isabel can't even do anything right. I would serve you all my days. I swear to you!"

"How can I trust you when you gave a similar speech to Abigail. You would just end up betraying me too." Without giving Ian anytime to respond, another power ball shot towards Ian. Isabel screamed as he fell to the floor with a sickening thud. "You however, will go back to Abigail's fortress and tell her everything that I had done to your friends."

Isabel raced to get out of the camp. She ran from Pharaoh's tent straight to the outside world. Animals, horrid, vicious, animals were waiting by the horses. She got on her horse after a couple tries, but she had bites and scratches all over her skin. Tears raced down her face as she galloped towards Abigail's fortress.

She jumped off her horse and pounded on the gate to gain entrance. Hearing her cries of terror and distress, the crystal rulers rushed out of the castle to see what all the commotion was about. As soon as Isabel saw Abigail she rushed to meet her. She fell down on her knees, her face and forearms in the dirt of the road.

"Please forgive me, Abigail!"

"What did you do?" Abigail must have known by now. Surely she knew.

"I have betrayed you and all the other rulers. Ian, Josiah, and I went to Pharaoh, as soon as everyone was eating the evening meal, but when we got there he knew all about you and all about Serenity. Please forgive me!"

"Where are Josiah and Ian?"

"He killed them. He killed them without any warning, but let me go back so that I could warn you." Tears continued to roll down her cheeks. She just kept mumbling 'forgive me.'

Ignoring the sobbing girl, lying in the middle of the road, Abigail turned around to face the last of her people and her friends. She rubbed her lips together while she thought of a solution. It was impossible though, nothing would be able to help them now. They were all doomed.

"Prepare for battle," was all she said then she turned around and walked back to her castle. As soon as Abigail got inside, she fell to her knees. _No! No, this can't be happening!_ She buried her face in her hands, as the tears continued to roll down her face. She wasn't sure what to do. She had know that Isabel and Ian and Josiah hadn't been her largest fans, but to betray her? How could they do that? Her mind was going through all sorts of scenarios when she felt Serena lightly touch her shoulder.

"What do I do?" Abigail whispered more to herself than Serena.

"What else can you do except lock Isabel up and have your troops be ready for when Pharaoh attacks?" Serena couldn't imagine what Abigail was feeling. Her heart had broken when Darien had turned against her, but this was so different. Isabel had totally betrayed Abigail, thus giving a new planet to Pharaoh's collection of frozen wastelands, and in the process she put every other life in the universe in danger.

Abigail didn't answer her.

"Maybe if we bring Darien and my friends here, we can save Eris." Serena tried.

Abigail's eyes went wide as she stumbled to her feet. She hiked up her skirts then raced off in the direction of the library with Serena, William, Anna, and Timothy close on her heels. The rest of the crystal rulers were currently taking care of Isabel. When the five reached the library, Abigail had stopped at the fire place, the ring already on, and her hand pressed on the cold stone. Serena waited for the flames to appear, telling them that the planet was at least still a little alive, but they didn't come. The fireplace remained dead and cold.

Abigail whirled to face Serena. "You have to take my people and the other rulers back to Earth, Serena."

"What about you?"

"I have to stay here."

"Then so will I."

"Serena, until I give you the crown you are under my rule."

"Do I look like I care?" Serena crossed her arms defiantly. "This is my planet just as much as it's yours, and you can't get rid of me that easily."

"Your Majesty, you are needed at the gate." A guard had come for Abigail. She looked at him and followed him out of the room.

"What does she mean, 'give you the crown'?" William asked.

Anna smiled as Serena answered. "My earth name is Serena, but I am widely known as Princess Serenity, daughter of King Darius and Queen Serenity of the Moon Kingdom."

Meanwhile, Pharaoh was sitting in his tent, looking at the dead bodies still lying there.

"So they hadn't know that Serenity was actually queen." He spoke to himself. "If that is so, then it is good that I already got a head start on claiming the next planet on my list." He called two of his guards into the tent, and told them to send twelve hundred more men to the planet.

Earth.


	12. Chapter 12

I do not own Sailor Moon or any other things I also mention.

**Evolution**

**Chapter 10c : Confronting Isabel**

William looked at Serena as if she had lost her mind. "We don't believe you! Why would Abigail keep that a secret from us?" He exclaimed rather loudly.

"Why would she keep it a secret from you? Doesn't what just happened explain that to you.

"Does Pharaoh know?" Timothy asked very seriously. "When we first saw him, he said 'welcome, my Queens.' I figured it was just an expression."

"Because I am not sure, assume that he does."

"Could he have already attacked your planet then?"

Serena took a deep breath then answered, "although we don't as of yet know, I have a very strong feeling that he already has."

"Why do you say that?" Anna asked.

"Just after the meeting, after you had brought me to bed, I woke up with a terrible feeling that something was wrong."

"How do you know that it was from your planet then?"

"That's just it. I don't know. It would be just like the feeling you would get if your planet was in danger."

They seemed to accept that as an answer.

"What should we do now?" William asked.

"We have to figure out what Isabel told Pharaoh." After a moment of pause, Serena continued, "where is she?"

"Go ask the others, when we left she was with them."

"I'm going to go ask her some questions. You guys should go find Abigail and see if she needs help with anything." After seeing them all nod, Serena walked out of the room, her skirts swishing with each step she took. She didn't bother closing the door because she knew they would obey her orders.

"I can't believe this! I still don't understand why they would keep it a secret from us." William whispered. He rubbed his temples as if to prevent a headache from coming on. Timothy readily agreed with him.

"Why aren't you surprised that she's Queen Serenity?" Timothy asked Anna.

"They told me a little while ago." The men both gaped at her. "I'm going to follow her instructions, so I will see you later." Anna stalked out of the room, shortly followed by both men. When they found Abigail she was just walking up towards the castle. She looked defeated. Anna ran towards her. "What's wrong?"

"What's right?" Abigail handed a piece of parchment to Anna.

"Is this a joke?" Anna asked. She handed the parchment to William, who read it, then handed it to Timothy.

"I don't think so." Abigail took a deep breath. "Where is Serena?"

"She went to talk to Isabel just before we came out here."

"What a brilliant idea! I do believe I'll join her."

William grabbed her arm just before she could walk away, turning her towards him, he said, "don't kill her."

"Kill her? If anything, it will be torture." With those words, Abigail yanked her arm away from him to go find the woman who betrayed her.

She walked slowly towards the dungeon where Isabel was being held. She walked past the library, past the war room, following a soldier down the winding staircase through the door at the end. Every ten steps was another soldier.

"Why are there so many soldiers?" Serena asked.

"For your protection and to make sure that if the traitor escapes, she will be stopped," came the terse reply.

Serena nodded her head, even though she thought that they were going a bit overboard. Finally they reached Isabel's cell.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Serena saw another crystal ruler yell. She hadn't met him yet, and she suddenly didn't want to. If he hadn't been yelling, he probably would have been very cute with his short blond hair and forest green eyes. Just as she continued to think about his eyes compared to Darien's bottomless, beautiful, deep blue eyes, the crystal ruler's face contorted again as he started to yell at Isabel.

"Isabel! I demand you answer me! What the heck were you thinking?"

"Have you thought about saying 'please'?" Serena murmured.

"What?" The ruler turned around to glare at her.

"Maybe if you stopped yelling at her, she'll answer you." Serena tried her hardest to make her voice sound normal, but she figured she failed.

"I don't want your interference." Isabel hissed.

"You may be a ruler here, but you will have no say," the ruler commented with a snide smile. "Abigail alone has the power to—"

"Then stop!" Abigail's voice sounded. The ruler stepped away from Isabel's cell. "Isabel, you will answer Jamison's question now."

"What was I thinking?" Isabel's shaking voice betrayed her smile. "Let me expound upon it for you." Isabel took a deep breath. Her eyes glinted anger, but showed no remorse. "I was thinking about having the throne to myself," her voice rose, "you don't deserve to be on the throne! We all agreed that as soon as Pharaoh relinquished his hold on Eris, he would realize that going after the witch who killed his brother would finally take over."

"Why would it take over?" Serena asked. She hadn't liked being called a witch, but she did rather like being at least a little well known.

No one answered her question. Serena pursed her lips and started thinking. If this was what being royal entailed, she was glad Darien would be king.

"Your plan failed then didn't it?" Abigail asked.

"Isabel remained silent.

"Come Serena, Jamison, we'll take our leave now."

"Wait!" Isabel yelled. "When I went to see Pharaoh, he talked about Queen Serenity's heir being among us. Who is she?"

Abigail smiled, but before she could answer, Serena did.

"Her heir is a blond haired, blue eyed beauty, on her second life after Queen Beryl destroyed her, her kingdom, and her earth prince lover. She defeated Beryl and lived to tell the tale. She visited the future to destroy a ruling evil. She, with the help of a very close friend, was able to defeat Pharaoh 90. She fought against a dead moon, and won. She fought against her own, but came out the victor. And now…" Serena gave a small laugh, "and now, she fights again, with the only possible outcome of surviving and winning."

"And who is she, this queen that is so powerful?" Isabel asked in a mocking tone.

Serena just blinked before answering.

"Me."

* * *

Okay so I put up three smaller chapters instead of one larger one. Sorry it took so long. I had to get my entire computer wiped because of a nasty virus. And when one computer breaks so do all of the others. So I had no idea where I was in my story. If anything doesn't match up right, message me and I'll try to fix it.


	13. Chapter 13

I do not own Sailor Moon.

**EVOLUTION**

**CHAPTER 11—BACK TO EARTH**

Serena heard Jamison gasp, but she didn't take her gaze off of Isabel. The urge to turn around and stick her tongue out at him almost overtook her, but thankfully, she restrained and kept her dignity.

"I don't believe you!" Isabel shrieked. "A weakling like you would never be able to defeat all those monsters everyone says you did."

"My true crystal powers have just awakened, so it will take a while for them to awaken fully, and as soon as they do, Pharaoh won't stand a chance."

The trio waited for Isabel to respond. Instead she started to back up so that her back was resting against the wall opposite the steel bars holding her in the little cell. Serena couldn't tell if her face was contorted in fear or in anger, then she decided she really didn't care. She turned around to go back to the library, and she came face to face with Anna who was leading the rest of the crystal rulers and by the looks on their faces, they had heard every word.

Serena sighed; Abigail snickered.

"Shall we reconvene in the war room?" Abigail suggested. "You can ask you questions there."

Abigail led the way, followed by Serena and then everyone else in a single file line. Only breathing could be heard as the line traveled by the stairs and down the hallway. When they finally reached the war room, everyone took their normal seats, except Abigail who gave her chair, the only high back, and the largest in the room, to Serena. An audible gasp was heard through the room—only the queen could sit in that chair. Only the queen ever sat in that chair.

After Serena had sat down and adjusted her skirts, she looked up and asked, "do you have any questions for me?"

An uproar started, everyone speaking at the same time. Serena just pinched the bridge of her nose, even as Abigail laughed.

"One at a time." Abigail finally said, taking pity of Serena. "Jamison, you first. Clockwise from there."

"Were you telling the truth?" The simple question got everyone's attention.

Serena thought about her words carefully, so they didn't come off as too callous. "I have no true reason to lie," was all she said.

The next person, a woman with red hair asked, "if it's true, why did you keep it a secret?"

"I had a feeling something like this would happen because when she and her cohorts first came to Eris, Isabel had been saying things about Pharaoh." Abigail answered in Serena's stead. "She pretended like she was angry, but to me it always sounded like she was almost justifying him. When I left to get Serena, I had already planned on keeping her identity a secret."

"Why?" The same woman asked.

"Her connections."

"What?" Almost everyone said it.

"Oh." Serena said, drawing out the single syllable word. At first she hadn't understood why, but when Abigail talked about the connections, something clicked.

"What?" Anna whispered for Serena's ears alone.

"Darien." Serena answered.

"Exactly." Abigail nodded her agreement.

"Who's Darien?" Asked Timothy.

"My future husband." Serena said, giving a little smile while thinking about him.

"What about him? Why would it matter if she knew about your future husband?"

"Because his past name was Endymion,—"

"You're marrying the Prince of Earth?" William nearly yelled.

"Do think Pharaoh knows about him?" Serena asked worriedly.

"Which brings up another problem," William started, "what are we going to do about Pharaoh?"

Abigail pointed to Serena. "Ask her."

Everyone looked at Serena expectantly.

"How much time would you say we have before Pharaoh strikes?" Serena asked.

"We have three days and three nights, Eris time." Abigail answered.

"Approximate?"

"Exact."

"How in the world would you know that?" Serena asked incredulously.

"When I was called away earlier, Pharaoh's captain delivered a rather cryptic message. It said he would attack in three full days."

"Why is he warning us?" Serena asked. She almost commented on how long, when she remembered the time change between Eris and Earth. She also connected that to the face of why she had been so tired lately. According to earth's schedule, she had been on Eris for almost three weeks.

"I don't know. He's certainly never done it before."

"What are we going to do?" Serena mused to herself. For five entire minutes she thought through her dilemma, trying to incorporate the face that her life wasn't the only one in danger. She thought about what her mother had done for her. _What would the original Queen Serenity have done?_ Serena asked herself.

"How did he originally attack?" She asked out loud.

"He never sent messages. Instead he has always frozen the ground so that the people froze with it. He takes the planet by force and with no mercy," Timothy answered.

"Did he ever start attacking another planet before the previous one was gone?"

"Frequently."

"Abigail, how much longer do you thing we could hold out on Eris? How long before ice takes over completely?"

Abigail thought it through. "Maybe a week—week in a half at most."  
"We should start sending troops and surviving people to earth. We can at least try to foil his plans before they start."

"Do we get to go?" Timothy asked.

"Of course!" Serena sounded almost insulted that he had even asked that.

"But who would go?" Anna questioned.

"I stay here!" Abigail said in a hard voice, without any hesitation.

"As do I." Serena answered. "It doesn't matter who goes. We'll all be joining together again. Here—if we can save Eris." She winced at her choice of words.

"And what of Isabel?" Jamison asked.

"She's a traitor. She must be treated as such. I will be the last to get off Eris," Abigail said. "If I can get off, then she will come with me. If not, then she will stay in her prison here."

**Sailor Moon**

Each time the Scouts defeated one monster, it was as if another appeared. They just couldn't win.

"This is insane!" Sailor Mars exclaimed, as she watched the American, Russian, and Chinese armies face off against the enemies. "They _can't_ win! We can't even win."

"Well, if we're going to die, at least we'll die quickly." Sailor Venus tried.

"Way to think positive." Sailor Mars retorted. All Venus did was shrug.

"We have to get back down there and help them." Tuxedo Mask said. He had been kind of silent since the armies started to march through Tokyo.

As he jumped off the building where they were taking a breather, Raye started to grumble only to be told to "chill" by Sailor Jupiter. Sailor Mercury was of course on her computer trying to figure out the enemies weak spots. Unfortunately for them, these were just abnormally strong, brainwashed humans. Fortunately for them, the other armies had no such qualms.

Sailor Mars jumped off the building going north, Venus to the south, Jupiter to the east, and Mercury to the west.

In front of Sailor Mars were a huge gang of the mutated humans. "Mars…Celestial…Arr—"

A woman clad in yellow suddenly appeared in front of Raye. She was immensely thankful the woman had appeared before she shot out her attack.

"Who are you?" Mars asked her.

"The Queens sent me to guard you, take my hand." The woman held her hand out.

"Queens? What Queens?" Mars still refused to take the hand. Before the woman answered the question though, she forcefully took Mars' hand. In mere seconds, the two were on top of the same building the Scouts had just vacated.

"Stay here," the woman said. "I have to get your friends." Without Mars' response, the woman left.

"I have to get down from here." She muttered.

"Don't even think about it." A male voice said to her.

"Who are you?" Mars looked around to see who was talking to her.

"My name is Jamison, and as soon as Marianne gets back, we'll be able to take you someplace where we can talk."

The woman, Marianne apparently, reappeared with Venus and Mercury. Soon followed by Jupiter and then Tuxedo Mask.

"What's going on?" Mercury asked.

"Link hands. We have to get you someplace safe." Jamison ordered. Tuxedo Mask somehow felt that he could trust these people. He didn't know how or why, but he did. Within seconds everyone was in a new place.

"Where are we?" Venus asked, her teeth chattering. Wherever they were, it was definitely cold.

"The mountain overlooking your city." Marianne said.

"Oh boy."

"Who sent you here? Who are the 'Queens'?" Raye asked.

"You don't know either?" Jamison questioned

No one felt a need to answer the question, so Marianne did instead.

"Her majesty, Queen Serenity."

There was silence for a full minute as her words slowly sunk in. Then everyone erupted in chaos.

"She's alive!"

"Where is she?"

"Why did she send you?"

"How do you know her?"

As the questions kept coming, Marianne and Jamison remained quiet. Finally Tuxedo Mask looked towards them. Marianne gently took off his mask.

"Prince Endymion." Marianne bowed her head to him. Jamison followed suit.

"I go by Darien now. How do you know who I am?"

"Her majesty told us that you are our first priority."

"Why? What's going on?"

"Do you remember Pharaoh 90? The man who is trying to destroy the universe as we know it, calls himself Pharaoh 90's brother—Pharaoh. He's been going from planet to planet trying to create a universal ice age. Queen Serenity and her cousin, Queen Abigail, have been fighting together for three earth weeks. Before that Queen Abigail has been fighting for at least half an earth year. Right now they are on Eris, Queen Abigail's planet, waiting for Pharaoh's next move, but it's a losing fight. Queen Serenity sent us here because she doesn't think that Eris will survive for much longer. And from the looks of this city right now, she's right." Marianne explained.

"Why did she send you instead of coming herself?" Lita asked after she transformed back.

"Her thoughts were that we have to fight Pharaoh on two fronts." Jamison said. "She and Abigail are on Eris right now making sure that everyone that's still alive gets off before the planet is blanketed in ice."

"So how do you know her exactly?" Mina asked.

"We all have crystals. I have a grey crystal, Marianne a yellow one. Most of the other council members have a colored one, but on Serena's is a pure, clear crystal. As of right now the only crystal as powerful as hers is Abigail's, the black crystal."

"When is she coming back?" Darien asked, quietly.

"We don't know. Pharaoh sent a message to us a few hours ago that said he would be attacking in three full Eris-hour days. Until he attacks more of the council member will be send down here to do battle."

"What's an 'Eris-hour' day?" Amy asked.

"Twenty-four hour days and twenty-four hour nights."

"Should we get back down there then?" Raye asked. "There are innocent human beings trying to fight in our stead."

"When we came down to fetch you, we stopped the attacks for a short time. They won't attack again until dawn." Marianne said calmly.

"Will more of the Council come before then?"

"One more is planning to come with twelve hundred peasants from Eris before midnight."

"What do we do until then?" Lita asked looking down from on top of the building. Below the building she could see the American, Russian, and Chinese army confused about why the fighting suddenly stopped. It looked like the enemy was behind a wall of glass that could shatter at any moment.

"We wait, and we plan."

**Sailor Moon**

Serena watched as she sent Timothy and twelve hundred peasants to earth. Her heart was breaking. She wanted to be in Timothy's place. She wanted to be going back home. She wanted to see Darien, to kiss him, and tell him she loved him. She wanted to be able to see her friends and have fun with them. She knew where her priorities were currently on Eris.

She had given Timothy a special message for Darien with a word in it for the others. It spoke of her love for him and how much she missed him. She promised that she would be coming home soon.

Serena was still day dreaming when Abigail came up to her.

"You'll be going home soon." Abigail said, trying to offer comfort.

"I know." Serena smiled sadly. They turned around to go back to the fortress when a blinding white light filled the courtyard. And suddenly, Serena saw black.


	14. Chapter 14

I do not own Sailor Moon.

**Evolution**

**Chapter 12-War**

It hurt so badly. The entire world disappeared around her except the fact that whatever had just happened hurt her. She thought it was her back, but it felt as if everything was on fire. She was lying on her back, which only expounded the pain. _I don't think I can roll over_. So she tried to open her eyes. All she could see was a dark grey sky. She was able to move her left hand, but the right one hurt to even move her fingers. She lifted her hand, dust covered it.

"Abigail! Oh thank God, you're all right!" She heard Serena yell. Abigail felt Serena's hands on her shoulders, trying to get her up. She gripped Serena's hand and lifted herself into a sitting position.

"What happened?"

"Two suicide bombers from your people got into the city. We don't know how many they killed, but we do know that they killed Ivy and Jason."

Abigail put her face into her hands. Ivy and Jason were both Crystal Rulers. Ivy had a semi-powerful purple crystal, and Jason had a brownish crystal.

"That's just great." She said sarcastically. "We've already lost three, and now we lose two more? This is looking more and more like a losing battle."

"Don't think like that." Serena scolded. "Come on. We have to get you to the infirmary." She gestured to Abigail's shoulder. "You're bleeding really bad."

Serena helped Abigail to stand up, but something was wrong with Serena's hand. When Abigail looked down at the left hand, she noticed that it was bleeding just as badly as her shoulder was.

"How long have you been awake?" Abigail asked.

"A couple minutes. We were standing right next to each other, but the blast was so close, that it blew you at least fifty feet away from me. In the confusion, no one even noticed that we were gone. When Anny realized that we were missing along with Ivy and Jason, everyone started to scour the fortress for us."

"How long has it been since the bombs went off?"

"No more than an hour."Serena smirked. "Apparently I was a little hard to wake up."

"We should send out more people and another ruler."

"I've already have everything in motion. We're sending out everyone that isn't part of your army accompanied by William."

"Why William?"

"Is he more powerful that Anna?"

"No, but I just wondered why."

"Well, besides the fact that he believes I usurped the throne from you, I don't think he really likes me all that much."

"Serena, not everyone will like you. Some people may choose that you are not worthy to be followed, but others will believe that you are like a god. Whatever they choose, you have to let _them_ choose. You should never act in such a way that will take away their free will. It will cause people to hate you, and you will have more than one act of rebellion on your hands." Abigail decided that she would let Serena think on those words. "Why don't we both go to the infirmary to get stitched up? My shoulder is on fire."

Serena nodded, but consented to allow Abigail to lead her to the make shift infirmary that currently located in the middle of the courtyard. It had everyone that was sick and hurt in it. A nurse quickly stitched them up before she went about her rounds. As soon as the queens had wrapped their hand and shoulder, respectively, Anna and William asked them to a private conference.

"I thought that Pharaoh wasn't supposed to attack for two and a half more days," William commented, once they away from the infirmary. They were still walking, but they were more meandering than walking towards a specific destination.

"The note said 'Did you enjoy what I have done to your fellow Crystal Rulers? I will not attack for three full Eris hour days. Maybe by then, you will have realized your grievous mistake in thinking that you could actually defeat me.' After that all I saw was Pharaoh's signature." Abigail responded.

"Maybe he meant that he himself will not attack, but he was perfectly allowed to send other to do his dirty work." Serena suggested.

"What convoluted thinking!" Anna said, rather loudly.

"What are we going to do?" William asked.

"We are going to send you and everyone that isn't in Abigail's army to earth. Hopefully by the time you get there my friends along with Jamison and Marianne would have commandeered a school or a hotel or something, so we'd have enough room to get everyone out." Serena answered.

"When do we leave?"

"You and everyone that can walk and isn't helping out in the infirmary will be leaving as soon as possible."

"And the others?"

"We will get them so they can be transported across the galaxies, but as soon as they land they will need immediate medical attention. Maybe the others somehow took control of a hospital." Serena said the last sentence almost absentmindedly. She looked away and was instantly in her own world, far away from all the chaos on Eris. When she came back to her senses, she realized everyone was staring at her. She quickly thought about what they were talking about just seconds ago. "You will leave in half an hour. Do not bother packing anything. There are plenty of clothes and amenities on Earth. Gather everyone. Make an announcement at the steps, tell them to gather as fast as possible at the place where Timothy and the others just were."

With those words, Serena, Abigail, and Anna walked away to help in the hospital. Anna would be doing sutures, while Abigail wrapped, and Serena prepared them for the journey to earth, by getting them in position for the next load to leave.

Abigail knew Anna would be going with the injured, but she sincerely wished that it was Serena going instead. Not because she liked Anna better than she did her own cousin, but merely for the fact that if Serena didn't leave before another horrendous attack, she seriously doubted Serena would be leaving at all. It was her sincerest prayer and hope that Serena would live to have the future that she should. Serena had to be the queen she was born to be.

Because she seriously doubted that she would be having the future she always wanted.

**Sailor Moon**

Darien and the others had no idea what they were supposed to be doing. They knew that another council member and a whole bunch of people were coming, but they weren't sure where they had to be or what kind of place they would need. As the Sailor Scouts, the girls had raided a hospital of things like ibuprofen, acetaminophen, and some other essentials such as bandages, wraps, and athletic tape. Jamison and Marianne had said that a guy named Timothy, who has a blue crystal and twelve hundred people from the planet where they were all staying.

Darien had chosen a large abandoned hotel. It had millions of rooms, all rather dusty, but furnished, a large gymnasium complete with weight lifting equipment, and an Olympic size swimming pool. People would have to share rooms, but at least they would have rooms.

When Jamison told him how Serena was, Darien was extremely relieved, but he was really upset. He wasn't sure if it was anger or if it was despair, but all he really knew was that he was upset. And the girls were just as bad.

"When are they going to be coming?" Mina complained. "We've been here forever!" Artemis was calmly laying across her left shoulder. He and Luna had been oddly quiet since Serena had left.

"Mina, we've only been here for five minutes." Lita commented, rolling her eyes.

Amy was looking at her computer. She typed something on her computer. Lita stopped talking to Mina and looked over Amy's shoulder at the computer. "I think I see them."

"No way! Is that Pluto?" Lita asked. Luna jumped onto Lita's shoulder and stared at the computer.

"Yes, but it's on the opposite side of Earth. How far away is the planet where they're coming from?"

"I'm not sure honestly." Marianne responded. "I don't believe that anyone has measured out the distance. If your computer is part of your Sailor Mercury powers then if you look up the Advent Moon Galaxy, I'll bet that you could find out."

Amy typed the name of the galaxy onto her computer. "It's ten light years away. How long does it take to travel?"

"It was almost instantaneous once we left Eris' atmosphere. You should notice that they are traveling extremely fast. Once they get into Earth's orbit, they should slow down drastically."

Everyone waited patiently—except for Mina, who kept switching her feet—and quietly—except for Mina who kept sighing. It was thirty seconds to midnight when they touched down onto Mount Fuji. Jamison walked straight up to the group.

He and the main guy walked straight up to each other and gripped each other's right forearm in a Roman handshake. "Timothy, how are you my friend?"

"I am doing well, but I fear there is trouble."

"What's wrong?" Marianne stepped forward and gave a small curtsy.

"While we were leaving Eris, a blinding white light suddenly filled the sky. We weren't able to see what happened, but I fear it was bad."

"Was it Queen Serenity?" Jamison asked. Darien sucked in a large breath.

"There is no reason why she should have had to use her crystal."

"Do you know if she is alright?" Darien asked.

Timothy looked over at him with a suspicious look in his eyes. He looked back at Jamison and Marianne, and when they nodded, he told Darien what he knew. "Honestly, I am not sure. I am almost confident that nothing happened to any of them, but I believe that some of us should wait here for a little while, until we are sure."

"Okay," Jamison took order. "Darien, Mina, Lita, and Luna, you guys should go with the people to the hotel. The rest of us—"

"No!" Darien said, vehemently. "If others are coming, I'm going to be here because they'll bring word of Serena."

"Alright, Raye you go in Darien's spot. Remember to stay quiet." Jamison sent them on their way after telling the band of twelve hundred people the same instructions. As they made their way down the mountain side, Amy was still typing on her computer.

"Do you see anything coming towards us, Amy?" Raye asked.

"Well, I do, but it's not out of the Advent Moon Galaxy yet."

"How long do we have to wait?"

"I don't know. An hour—hour in a half." Everyone except Darien started to sit down, but he was too worried about Serena. It was comical to think that he had just been furious with her. Timothy walked over to him.

"You must be Darien." Timothy said as way of introduction.

Darien raised one of his eyebrows. "Yeah?"

"Queen Serenity asked me to tell you that she loves you, and she is going to be home as soon as possible."

Darien scoffed.

"Do you find something unbelievable about that?"

"No, I just…" Darien let his sentence trail off.

"Maybe you should talk to her, before you make any rash decisions."

"I'm not making any rash decisions! I just wish…"

"I'm not going through this with you. If you want to know why Her Majesty did what she did, you should talk to her."

Timothy walk away from Darien, very stiffly. Darien sat down a couple feet away from everyone and leaned against the tree. Once he was settled, he laid his head back and promptly fell asleep.

Across the field, Timothy, Jamison, and Marianne were staring at him. Timothy clenched his jaw.

"What do you make of him?" Marianne asked.

"I think that it will be a very long time before he forgives her." Timothy responded.

"He doesn't even care that if it weren't for her, all of those people, all of us—we'd all be dead! I'll bet he's upset at Queen Abigail also. If it weren't for her, we wouldn't have Her Majesty, and we never would have made it this far." Jamison defended Serena.

"You don't need to defend her to us, Jamison. When she comes here, he'll have to talk to her."

"I just hope she gets here soon."


	15. Chapter 15

A minor correction from the last chapter: the only people left in the field are Amy, Artemis, Darien, Marianne, Jamison, and Timothy. Sorry about that.

I don't own Sailor Moon.

Evolution

Chapter 12—Marianne

It was a full hour and a half before anyone came. Darien had been brooding over near his tree. Once in a while someone talked but it was in their own little cliques. Marianne, Jamison, and Timothy sat in the middle; Amy and Artemis sat together towards the right and Darien to the left.

Amy was positively horrified to see the condition of the people of Eris. They were filthy with minor cuts and scrapes all over their faces and what showed of their arms.

Jamison, Marianne, and Timothy were the fastest to react.

"What happened?" Marianne all but screamed.

"Two suicide bombers tried to blow up the Fortress. Ivy and Jason are dead." A man answered.

"What's going to happen now?" Asked Artemis.

"The more seriously wounded are coming with Anne, as soon as they can be transported."

"Forget them, William, what about their Majesties?" Jamison questioned.

"Abigail's shoulder needed stitching and so did Serenity's hand. Both were up and moving about when I left."

"Amy?" Marianne tried to get the girl's attention. "Could you get Raye, Lita, and Mina on your communicator? I think we're going to need a lot of help."

Quickly Amy did as she was told to do. Mina was the first to get on her communicator. In the background she saw some buildings going by. They weren't even at the hotel yet.

"Mina, we need you guys here," Amy fairly shouted.

"Why? What's wrong?"

"The planet Serena's on was attacked. We're going to have people that are injured coming back."

"Is Serena coming back?"

Amy looked to the new guy for clarification. When he shook his head, she gave the same to Mina. "No, not yet."

"Okay, we'll be there as soon as we finish bringing them to the hotel." Blinding white lights filled the sky. "Can you send someone to help us right now though?"

"We'll go," Marianne elected herself and Jamison.

"What about the rest of us?" Darien asked as Marianne and Jamison suddenly disappeared.

"As soon as the others get back here, we'll go to the hideout."

"Our first priority though is to get the people to safety. The others weren't far behind us. They'll be here soon." William said.

True to his word, Anna and the rest appeared within an hour in a half. While the last group of people had minor cuts and scrapes, this group had bandages everywhere. Most had leg and arm splints on, a lot had their heads bandaged, and even more were lying down on makeshift beds.

"Anna!" Timothy yelled. "How are the queens?"

"They are fine. They expect to join us soon."

Darien scowled at her words. He was so mad at Serena, but he at least wanted her home where he could have her under his constant watch. And he swore that as soon as she was home she was never going to leave his sight again.

Sailor Moon

"So is this what it was like on…Eris?" Sailor Venus asked, glad since she remembered the name of the planet.

"No it was much worse." Marianne said simply, fighting off another attack.

"How could it be worse? We're getting attacked day and night." Sailor Mars exclaimed. "Mars Celestial Arrow!" Her flame arrow shot out and calmed the tide coming towards them.

"Get back to the hotel. We can defend ourselves easier there." Marianne ordered urging them along. "Hurry, girls."

Marianne rushed behind them to get them to hurry. Jamison suddenly appeared behind them helping along Sailor Jupiter.

"Go! I'll get the back!" Jamison yelled.

Everything started to happen really fast. Before all of the sailors were even through the front door to the hotel, Jamison started yelling something. It was like everything was happening in slow motion. Sailor Jupiter was about to walk through the door, but before she could Marianne knocked her out of the way.

"What's going on?" Sailor Jupiter yelled from the ground.

Before anyone could answer her though, a black light shot through the sky. Jamison leaped out of the way, assuming Marianne had gotten everybody out of the way. Unfortunately Marianne hadn't gotten herself out of the way.

Sailor Jupiter watched in horror as the black light hit Marianne in the middle of her stomach, slamming her through the glass of one of the hotel windows.

The light disappeared as swiftly as it appeared.

Sailor Mars and Venus had taken cover behind a couch in what used to be the hotel waiting room. They were the first to get to Marianne, followed by a running Jamison, and a sick Sailor Jupiter.

Mars knelt to the side of Marianne. Her eyes were wide open, but unseeing; her head lulled to the side; a gaping hole where her stomach had been. Mars put her fingers to Marianne's neck.

"She's gone…" Mars said to the unspeaking group.

"Oh God." Jamison picked Marianne up. "Call Amy. Tell the others. Then get up to the rooms and stay there until I come back."

Jamison turned and walked towards the back of the hotel. Immediately the others contacted Amy on their communicator after they transformed back into their human forms.

"Are you guys coming?" Amy asked before they could get a word out.

"No, not yet," said Lita.

"What's wrong?"

"Marianne…she-she's dead." Lita heard someone yell in the background; she heard another person curse.

Timothy took the communicator from Amy and spoke directly to the girls. "Where is Jamison?"

"We don't know. He picked up Marianne, told us to return to our rooms, and walked away somewhere."

Timothy was silent for a second. "What the hell is he doing?" He said to himself, then to the girls: "stay where you are until he gets back or else you could end up exactly like Marianne."

He closed the communicator effectively cutting off the connection.

Lita, Mina, and Raye remained in their room, until Jamison finally came back up over an hour later. He looked very dirty and he kind of smelled. He looked like he had been crying.

"Are you okay?" Raye asked.

Jamison glared at her and snarled. "We have to go," was all he said.

The girls changed back to sailors and they walked out the doors of the hotel. They felt like they were in Mission Impossible. Jamison and Sailor Venus were on the left side of the street while Sailor Mars and Jupiter were on the other side. They sneaked around buildings, staying in the shadows as much as possible.

The mutated humans were patrolling the streets. Each time one of them passed, the quiet group stopped cold. It was the scariest thing the girls had ever been through. Jamison had been through so much worse.


	16. Chapter 16

I do not own Sailor Moon.

Chapter 13—Timothy

"So what are we going to do now?" Darien asked.

"Well we need to get these people out of here. So I am going to go first to try to clear the way for them." Jamison said.

"I'm going with you," William declared, pointed to Jamison. "The women and the villagers should be in the middle. Darien and Timothy can take the back."

Darien nodded his agreement, while Raye declared that she should be the one to take the back.

"You are Raye, correct?" Anna asked her.

Raye immediately became wary. "Yes?"

"Serenity speaks very fondly of you. She said that you were one of the ones that she could always trust to be by her side." Anna let her words sink in. "Would you mind proving why she would say that to me?"

"She actually said that?" Raye asked, feeling ashamed.

"She spoke very fondly of all of you. She was constantly asking Abigail to bring you guys to Eris for her." Anna looked straight at Darien. "As a matter of fact she had nightmares about something happening here. She wanted you to be by her side in case something like that did happen."

Darien turned his head away from them. Anna was just trying to make him feel guilty. It was starting to work.

"Darien," Jamison interjected. "Do you have the map of the city that I told you to bring?"

"Yeah, here." Darien through the folded paper over to Jamison and went to sit over by his tree.

Timothy glanced over at him, disgust marring his features. He was starting to get really annoyed with the high handed way that Darien was acting. When Anna touched his shoulder, he turned his thoughts back to the problems they were currently facing.

"We should take them along this route." William said, tracing a line with his fingers on the map, as they sat on the ground.

"We just came from there. It will be practically impossible to get through with this many injured people going with us. It was hard just getting us through there without getting caught by the sentries."

"Well then what way do you suggest?" William and Jamison continued to debate about which route to take, and when they finally had down a complex one, they moved to how to get past the sentries.

Timothy had a bad feeling about the route they were taking to the hideout. Even with as much security as they had, he had a bad feeling about everything. There were so many breaks in the plan. Any of the deformed humans could break the plan so easily! And with so many people…everyone could very well die.

"Maybe we should move the hideout." He suggested.

William and Jamison looked up from what they were doing. Both looked thoughtful over the situation. Mina, however, obviously didn't understand why he had suggested such an outrageous idea.

"Why would we do that? We have a plenty big enough place right now."

"Yes, a rather large hotel in the middle of your city. If the people there are still alive, they could be in incredible danger, not to mention the fact that they know that they killed Marianne there." Timothy said.

"But if we move the hideout, how will we move the others to it?"

"That's a good point," started Jamison, "but we should move them. It could be easy to take them out a back entrance beyond where the sentries of Pharaoh's army are located."

"We should do that." William agreed.

"But that brings us to another problem. Where else could we put them?"

"I know," Raye suddenly shouted. "And it's not too far from here."

"Where?"

"It's Serena's old house."

"How large is it?" William asked.

"Pretty big." Lita said while Raye was nodding her head in agreement.

"Maybe we should send a couple people to check it out," Anna said.

"Can Abigail's people hold out a while longer? If they can then we definitely should send out a couple people."

"I think that we can definitely wait a little while longer. Abigail's doctors were sent with us so we would be able to tell how much longer a certain patient has."

"Okay then, let's send out Raye, Amy, and you, Anna. When you get back and tell us that it has a big enough room with very little guard coverage, then we'll go ahead and go. If not, then just come straight back. If you encounter any problems along the way, have Amy or Raye contact us, we'll get over there as soon as we possibly can." William said.

All of the girls going nodded. "Here have the map; we'll be able to choose alternative means while you guys are checking everything out."

"Will we need it?" Anna asked the girls going with her.

"If we can avoid the sentries then we shouldn't really have any need for it. I mean I know my way from here to there pretty well." Raye said.

"Okay, then lead the way ladies." Anna smiled calmly at them. Within three minutes the group was off. They led the way through the streets of Tokyo, avoiding the destruction of the buildings that the armies had done and what the Sailor Scouts themselves had done.

"How much further?" Anna whispered once they got to the destruction of the Tokyo clock tower.

"Just three more blocks." When Sailor Mercury looked back at Anna, she knew that she had to clarify what blocks meant. "Roads."

Anna nodded finally understanding. When they finally reached Serena's old house, Sailor Mars and Mercury were astonished to discover that only the walls were left standing.

"Her house!" Sailor Mars breathed. She had almost screamed it until she remembered that sentries were all over Tokyo.

"I'm guessing that Pharaoh's army did that." Anna said. Just as the words were out of her mouth, a sentry passed by where they were hiding. The girls went back into the shadows and waited until he was well out of ear shot.

"Yeah, they did. I was so sure that it would still be okay." The girls crossed the street intent on getting to the house's ruins. "This is horrible."

Anna felt her heart breaking as Sailor Mars reached for the door knob that was no longer there. Instead Mars pushed the door open. As it squeaked open, a hinge broke and it fell onto the scorched floor. Tears started to race down her cheeks.

"This was where they used to put all of their shoes and coats." Mars gently fingered the remnants of the coats. She nearly tripped up the stair that led to the rest of the house. She first walked into the kitchen. A beam had broken and was now half on the ground and the other half rested on the counter that faced the street where they had just stood. The kitchen led to the dining room. "Oh God."

The dining room table was half a black color, burned from the fire. The flowers that had been place there had only the vase still on the table, but they knew they had been there because right in the middle of the burn mark was a flower shape—a beautiful rose.

"I don't think I can do this anymore." Mars chocked out.

"Did her parents get out?" Anna asked quietly.

Mars looked to Mercury. Tears were running down both their faces, but apparently neither of them had even thought about the question before.

"We don't know," Mercury said. "The last time we saw them was at the funeral service."

"Whose funeral?"

"Serena's."

"But she is alive!"

"Her parents and everyone else thought that she was dead."

"You guys knew she was alive before Marianne and Jamison came here didn't you?"

"Of course. We saw her get taken."

"Then why did you not tell her parents that she was alive?"

"Because we would have had to tell them about us being the Sailor Scouts. No one knew."

Anna still didn't understand why they hadn't told Serena's parents about her being alive, but right now they were standing in an abandoned and ruined house when there were people up on the mountain that still needed help. "Do you have any other places where we might be able to bring the other villagers?"

"Um…" Mars put her hand to her mouth as she tried to think about the present situation.

"What about the temple?" Mercury asked her.

"That might work."

"What is the temple?" Anna asked.

"It was where I lived before all of this started to happen. It's actually where I first met Serena." Quickly and quietly the girls made their way out of Serena's house and down her road right to the temple. "I'm surprised it wasn't destroyed."

"Bring me inside, so I can make sure that there is enough room for everyone." Anna said to Mars.

She nodded her head then opened the gate into the courtyard. Everything looked fairly decent, but until they actually got up to the house, they weren't going to be sure of anything. Mars quietly opened the door. Everything looked all right. "Is this big enough?" She asked.

"It looks just about right." Anna nodded and continued to look around. She stopped by one of the windows. "What is that?"

Mars and Mercury joined her at the window. "That is the Pool of Tears," Mercury answered for Mars. "It's where someone goes when they have lost someone."

Anna nodded. "I think that this will work very well. Call back to your friends and tell them that we have found the place and to get the people ready."

Mercury grabbed her communicator.

"What's wrong?" Lita said when she answered.

"Nothing, Anna just wanted to tell you to get the people ready, because we're coming back."

"So we're going to Serena's house?"

"No, we're going to be staying at the Temple."

"Why?"

"You'll see when we pass it."

"Okay, we'll see you when you get back."

It was noon by the time the group was all talking to each other. The people were almost ready, but there were still a few last minute details to be worked out. Mercury and Mars helped the people get ready, while Anna told Jamison and William which paths they took and how many sentries had passed them. Once William and Jamison declared that it could be done the entire group was once again off. Jamison and William took the front while the girls were in the middle guarding all of the people from Eris, and Darien and Timothy took up the rear. Everyone had their eyes wide open and alert, but they were still attacked.

"Do you feel that?" Darien asked Timothy as the ground started to shake.

Timothy nodded his head. "Everyone keep going until you reach the Temple, but hurry." When everyone was back on their way, this time at a quicker pace, Timothy started to speak to Darien. "I have a really bad feeling about his. Stay close to the group and no matter what happens; make sure that they get to the Temple."

"What about you?" Darien asked as he continued to keep an eye out on his surroundings.

"Well, I really don't think that matters much at this point. Just make sure that they get there."

The two walked in silence for twenty more steps. Just as they were about to take another, an ugly green monster attacked. Darien started to make everyone go quicker. Timothy shot out a bolt of red light. The monster all but absorbed it.

"Darien! Get them out of here!" When Darien heard Timothy yell, he almost obeyed him. Reason won out though. He had never run away from a fight before. Even when it was a losing battle.

"Jupiter!" He yelled. "Get them out of here!" Quickly he transformed into Tuxedo Mask. Before he hadn't thought that he would need the rose-slinging superhero, but now he wished that he had transformed earlier.

Timothy glared at him as soon as he joined in the fray. He didn't care though. He had been dying for this fight for the longest time. This monster looked strangely human, but it had Professor Tome written all over the design. For a second Tuxedo Mask hesitated in attacking the monster. Just as he was about to throw a rose straight at the eye of the monster, the monster shot out Timothy's red light straight at Tuxedo Mask.

It burned! Oh, how it burned! Transforming had done absolutely nothing. He threw the rose he had intended towards the eye of the monster, the same spot where the others had once been defeated. This monster had been revamped though. An eyelid that must have been made out of steel closed just before the razor sharp rose could hit it.

"Have you fought something like this before?" Timothy yelled to him.

"Yeah, but last time the eye was the weakest part, I don't know where it is now." Tuxedo avoided another shot that was aimed to kill.

"Aim for the lower chest. That's where it was when I had to defeat him."

Tuxedo threw a rose where Timothy told him to, but only the sound of steel echoed when it hit. _How are we going to defeat this thing?_ He thought.

The monster was obviously tired of being reminded about his previous weaknesses. He shot out a sludge that went directly towards Timothy. When it hit him, the green goo turned immediately red. Power started to be sucked from Timothy and it went straight to the monster. Tuxedo threw a rose towards the lines of goo that connected them. Although they broke, Timothy was still wrapped up in it. The monster turned towards Tuxedo.

A red light surrounded them before the monster could shoot out another attack. When the light dimmed, the monster was gone. Tuxedo Mask turned around to check if Timothy was all right. Most of the goo had come off of him, but the rest was still on him. Quickly Tuxedo transformed back and knelt next to Timothy.

"Get it off of me." Timothy choked out.

Darien immediately reached for the goo, but it shocked him. Timothy let out a scream. Darien tried it again, the same thing happened.

"Help me." Timothy ground out.

Darien grabbed Serena's old communicator and called Amy. "Amy, I need any of the crystal rulers here now."

"Okay, Anna's already on her way."

Within seconds Anna was kneeling beside Timothy. "I don't know what to do."

"What is it?" Darien asked. He couldn't look at Timothy.

"As best as I can tell, it's a part of Timothy's own power. He tried to shoot at the monster didn't he?"

"The monster absorbed his power, but it was shot back out at me before this junk ever even came in contact with him."

"Can you pick him up without touching any of the goo?"

Darien looked down at Timothy. The man was just as tall as he was and was probably just the same weight. He seriously doubted that he could lift him. And even if he could, the goo was in all of the places where he could possibly pick him up.

Before Darien could answer though, Timothy did. "No." He ground out.

"Timothy, we have to move you."

Timothy just shook his head. "It's too late."

Anna started to cry. "No, it's not. We can figure this out."

"There's nothing to figure out. I either die…here…or die at the place where we were all going…" He was in pain.

"We can't just leave you here."

"Just stay here…until I die…"

Darien didn't think it would be that long until he did, but he wasn't about to leave the man just lying in the middle of the street. Anna and Darien nodded at the same time.

"Thank you." Timothy closed his eyes.

"You stay next to him, I'll stand guard." Darien commanded Anna. Once she nodded, he stood up and started to make a perimeter.

For just getting attacked it was oddly quiet. Darien listened to all of his surroundings. He could here Timothy's harsh breathing, Anna's quiet crying, and…nothing. He didn't understand why everything was so quiet.

He didn't realize he had closed his eyes until he jumped when Anna's hand touched his shoulder. "He's gone." She whispered. "Do you think that we might be able to take him back to the Temple?"

"Do you think I'll be able to touch him?"

"I'm not sure."

_There's only one way to find out._ Darien walked back over to the body and knelt, touching the largest section of goo. Nothing happened. He let out a sigh, realizing that he would have to find a way to carry him back.

He decided to lift him onto his shoulders. Once Timothy was settled as best as he possibly could be, Darien led the way back to the Temple. Lita was the first one to see them once they got in through the gate. Her hand covered her mouth, but she opened the door for the small group. They all walked into the living room, where Darien set Timothy's body down on the sofa.

"Amy," Anna said. "Could you take a bit of this and see what the contents are?"

"How did this happen?" Jamison asked.

"We were attacked. Timothy shot out something red, but the monster just absorbed it. It was the same monster from when Serena got her heart crystal taken." Darien explained to the girls.

"You didn't remember the eye?" Raye asked.

"I did; it wasn't the weakest point." Darien thought about what would have happened if Serena had been in Timothy's position. His heart rate sped up and he felt all of the blood leave his face. Serena would be lying on the sofa at this moment. She would be the one dead.

"Where did you guys put the villagers?" Darien asked, almost as an afterthought.

"They're in the basement." Raye answered. "We figured that it would be the safest spot for them."

A full minute passed in silence, finally Artemis spoke, "so what's the plan?"

Only Jamison answered. "We are going to wait for dusk, and then we'll set out."


	17. Chapter 17

I do not own Sailor Moon.

Chapter 14—Jamison

It was decided that Lita, Luna, and Artemis would be staying with the villagers to make sure that they remained safe. Everyone else was ready to leave by nightfall, but just as they were about to walk out the door, Amy's computer started to vibrate.

"Amy, what's going on?" Darien asked the blue haired girl.

Amy whipped out her computer and started typing. "My computer is detecting two bodies traveling towards Earth." She responded.

"What?" Jamison asked, coming up behind Amy to look at the computer.

"Serena's coming back?" Raye asked excitedly.

"She might be; she might not be." Anna responded.

"What do you mean?"

"It has not yet been three days on Eris. I believe it might just be soldiers coming to tell us how the battle is faring."

"How long does it seem until they get here?" William asked.

Amy figured a few more calculations. "It looks like an hour maybe two."

Jamison and William nodded their heads, then started to plan out how they were going to get to whoever was coming and still get the people in the other hideout. Because he knew that it was going to take forever, Darien remained quiet and went over into the corner.

"How long are days on Eris?" Mina asked Anna.

"Twenty-four hour days and twenty-four hour nights."

"Forty-eight hours?"

"Serena must be loving those nights," Raye said dryly. "Does she sleep the entire night?"

"Actually, while I was there, Pharaoh was continually attacking so she barely got any sleep at all. She was always up planning ways to get people out of Pharaoh's clutches or begging Abigail to come to Earth and get you guys."

"She begged for you guys to come and get us?" Lita needed clarification.

"She always had a plan to get you all. She wanted you there with her. Abigail had to tell her multiple times that you were all safer here."

The girls felt as if the bottom of their world just dropped from beneath them. Darien was listening to their conversation, but he doubted what Anna said. He knew Serena would never do something like that. He knew that she could always come and get any of them. He clenched his hands trying to remain calm and not let his emotions take over. She always had the choice. She decided to ignore it.

"Darien?" Anna quietly asked him.

"What?" He snapped back.

"I didn't lie to you. Serenity wanted you there with her. She was constantly asking about you."

"She always had a choice. If she really cared she could have brought us to Eris."

"Would you have wanted to be anywhere near her?"

Darien snarled at Anna. "She's supposed to be my wife. Of course I would have wanted to be with her."

"Did you know that each time she used her crystal, she could have died? Her crystal is extremely powerful, and each time she practiced with it, earthquakes shook Eris. Each time she practiced with it, she blacked out. The crystal took so much of her strength that she was actually weak…"

"It doesn't matter!"

"It mattered to her!" Jamison finally interceded. He was no longer just going to stand around and watch as Darien put down the only one that could possibly save them.

"She had so much confidence in you, did you know that?" William asked. "She knew that you had a crystal; so she figured that it was safe for you to be alone here, to take care of the earth. Abigail had to continually tell her that you were all safer here."

"Get it through your thick head, Darien, or you might as well leave. Serenity had no choice in coming to Eris. If she never came, Eris would be a frozen block—another bit of rock to add to Pharaoh's collection of planets. Everyone that she saved would be dead."

"That all well and good, but maybe you don't understand." Darien finally decided to defend himself. He stood up, so that he and Jamison were on the same eye level. Before he could ever start what he was going to say though Anna intervened.

"Stop!" She screamed. Everyone looked towards her. She was breathing hard. "This is what we fight about? We are the only unified front against Pharaoh on this planet and you guys want to fight about Serenity's choice in coming to Eris or staying on Earth. There is a bigger picture here. We can't change the fact that Serenity went to Eris and the fact that she is still there with only guards and Abigail to protect her. We can change the fact that when she comes home, the planet she comes back to will not be infested with Pharaoh's cronies."

An earthquake shook the building before anyone could respond to what Anna had said. As it ended, a sudden thought popped into Jamison's head. "Oh God, no!"

Everyone looked at him weird, but he was too astonished to say anything just yet.

"Jamison, what's wrong?" Lita asked twice.

"Pharaoh's here."

"I thought that he wasn't going to attack Eris for a couple more days." Raye protested.

"We need to get to whoever is coming to Earth."

"How long has it been on Eris?" Amy asked.

"They should still have one full Eris day left." Anna said.

"Well, we didn't expect him to do that, maybe it was a gimmick." Jamison tried. He had forgotten that not everyone knew what he was talking about.

"What are you all talking about?" Mina finally asked for everyone.

"When we were still there, Pharaoh had sent Serenity and Abigail a message that said he would attack in three full Eris hour days. No one else had ever heard of him giving that kind of message. We weren't sure if he was serious or if it was just a joke, so we started to send people here. Darn it!" Jamison slammed his hand against the wall closest to him. "We should have stayed there."

Anna placed her hand on his shoulder, trying to calm him. "Neither of them would have let us stay. Right now we have to think about the people coming to Earth and the people already on earth."

"We should split up to get the people at the hotel." Raye started.

"No. We are not splitting up anymore." William said resolutely.

"Do we have enough time to get everyone from the hotel back over here?" Anna asked.

Amy looked at her computer. "No. We barely have enough time to get anyone over here and still be at the mountain in time to pick our other visitors up."

"Can we get any of them over here?"

"When we found the hotel, we were in a car so it only took us an hour from here, but we'll be walking and we'll have tons of people with us. It already took us over an hour to get everyone that was injured here. I don't think that we should risk it."

"Do they have enough supplies?"

This time Darien answered. "There was plenty of food and plenty of medical supplies. As long as they have enough common sense to remain quiet, they should be good."

That took some of the weight of their shoulders and then William had to bring up another point.

"We need a new route to take now to get back to the mountain."

"Why?" Mina asked, showcasing the proof that she was truly blond.

"Because we were attacked, Mina," responded Raye.

"Oh…I forgot." She grinned; Raye rolled her eyes.

"Well we don't have to choose a whole new route, but maybe just side streets off the main one we already took." Amy suggested.

"That could work…" William said thoughtfully. He looked at the map that had been lying on the table since they had gotten Darien and Timothy to Temple. "Maybe if we take this route," he pointed it out, "we should be able to go completely around Pharaoh's troops."

William looked towards Jamison who was nodding his head. "I think that we should do that."

"Okay, are we all ready to go then?" Anna asked. She looked straight towards Darien with contempt in her eyes. She was really getting sick of his attitude.

"Let's go." Raye said, trying to ignore Darien. The girls transformed into the Sailor Scouts. Jamison and William led the way with Anna and Darien in the back and the scouts in the middle.

"Are you really that mad at her that you refuse to forgive her?" Anna whispered to Darien.

"She ran away from us, she had the choice to tell us or not, she had every opportunity to come to us while she was here, but she decided that she was going to run away from us and she went with your queen to that planet." Darien said it in a harsh voice. He didn't want to think about Serena right now. His heart was still too broken. He wanted to see her so badly, but he wasn't sure if he was going to scream at her or kiss her.

"Don't be like this, Darien." Anna was trying to be as kind as she possibly could be, but she was having a hard time with it. "You're so bitter. The longer you let this bitterness rule your heart; you're going to end up hating Serenity."

"I will never hate her!" Darien was trying to be quiet, but he was failing.

"Be quiet!" Sailor Mars said, and then turned her attention back to the way they were all walking.

"I will never hate Serena." Darien said it again.

"It doesn't sound like you believe that." Anna said it honestly and this time Darien didn't answer. In fact he was so focused on thinking about Serena, he ran into Sailor Jupiter. He apologized and then realized that the entire group had stopped. He didn't realize what they had stopped for until he realized that they had a perfectly clear line of sight of the mountain. They saw a crystal pod coming down to Earth.

It was still in the atmosphere when Pharaoh's army shot something red straight towards it. It was destroyed before their eyes. Darien's heart stopped until he saw two male bodies fly out of the pod. One landed on the north side of the mountain and the second landed right in front of Jamison and William. When it landed at least one hundred of Pharaoh's troops stormed from the mountain.

"We have to split up." Jamison told them which ways to go. "Whatever you do don't lead them anywhere near the hideout. Keep it a secret."

"You sound like we're never going to see you again." Sailor Venus protested.

He took a deep breath. "I don't think we were ever meant to live to see the end of this war. Now go. I'll hold them off as long as I can."

"We won't leave you." Venus once again protested.

He shook his head. "Go. Or I'll make you."

Venus started to cry. Mercury walked over to her and said something quietly to her.

"William is staying with me. Now go!" When Jamison finally yelled the order everyone was put into action.

Darien and Mercury went left. Anna, Mars, and Venus went right. Darien turned around just as the horde of enemies was coming down the hill. Jamison held his crystal in between his hands. It lit the entire sky. The horde split into three different parts. One group went straight towards William and Jamison, another towards Anna's group, and the last followed Darien.

"Run!" He shouted the order.

SAILOR MOON

"Fire!"

It was Serena that yelled the command. She was standing with the archers on the high wall of the last fortress on Eris. She was shaking so badly. Everything was going wrong. She had just sent a small group of soldiers to Earth, but as the group of five pods was going up, Pharaoh's army attacked them. All but one came crashing back down to Eris, and she could only pray the last one made it to earth.

It wasn't even Pharaoh that had attacked them. He had left almost twenty-four hours before and he had kept his promise—he hadn't attacked. Before he left though, he gave his armies strict orders to attack every hour on the hour. Or at least that was what it seemed.

Lack of sleep was finally catching up with Serena. Her eyes had dark circles underneath them, she was even clumsier than before, and she was starting to hallucinate. It didn't matter though. Each time she closed her eyes, nightmares came to torture her. Abigail had taught her how to make a drink to keep her awake, but it was so disgusting, she only drank it when she couldn't stay away any longer.

"Serenity, the lines are coming closer." Abigail said as she came up to join Serena on the wall.

"We are running out of arrows. Each time we make one more we use four. We can't keep this up, Abigail."

"Maybe it's time that we stopped with the archers."

"What will we do then?"

"We all have two feet. We should use them."

"We have barely any troops left. We can't afford to lose them."

"It can be done."

"Possible yes, but not probable."

"It's all we can do, Serena."

All Serena could do was stare at her cousin.

"Return fire!" An archer yelled.

Serena turned around just in time to see a million steel tipped arrows flying straight towards them. She was about to tell them to raise the shields when an arrow flew right into her shoulder. The strength of it sent her flying backwards, causing her to fall two stories—the height of the high wall. She could hear Abigail screaming her name as her vision went black.


	18. Chapter 18

I do not own Sailor Moon

Chapter 15—The Return

Darien and Amy were the first ones to arrive back at the temple. They had defeated the creatures that ran after them, but after that they wandered for at least an hour before they finally made their way back to the temple. After they arrived, it was only a half an hour more before Anna's group made it back. It was midnight by the time William arrived.

He was the only one of his group to return.

"Where is Jamison?" Mina asked.

"We were so close to getting back. He was too weak from using his crystal." Anna started to cry when William stopped.

"How did he die?" Anna asked.

"Pharaoh himself was leading the army. We couldn't do anything. He told me to run." William paused. "I stayed as long as I could, but I was too weak to continue."

"We need to find a way to get the people at the other hideout here." Raye said, trying to change the subject.

"I saw something really weird, on my way back." William continued as if he hadn't heard Raye.

"What?" Amy asked.

"Where Timothy died—there's a really large red crystal. And it's growing."

"Really? That's odd." Anna remarked. "I wonder if the place where Marianne died would have one."

"We can't really go look right now." Darien said falling asleep right where he was sitting. "I think we should take turns sleeping and guarding."

"I'll guard." William volunteered. "I can't sleep right now anyways."

"I'll stay up with you." Anna smiled at William. "Everyone else can go to sleep. Lita, how are the villagers."

"They were asleep when I was last down there, I don't think they've woken up since."

With a quick nod, Raye went to the back room to set up mats for everyone to sleep on. She, Amy, and Lita quickly made the beds. Before Darien's even had a blanket covering it, he was already asleep on top of it.

"He's going to be cold." Raye said. She threw a folded blanket near his feet. "When he does, it'll be there waiting for him."

"I wanna see Serena" Raye said after she had lain down. "How do you think she is?"

"I think that she's okay, but I'm not sure." Lita responded. "I can't wait to see her!"

"She's fine." Darien said waking up. He said it really meanly. Raye sent him a nasty look then rolled over and tried to go to bed. When Anna came to check on them almost half an hour later, almost everyone was snoring.

She walked back out to where William was. "Did you hear what they were talking about?" She asked the other crystal ruler.

"Darien seemed very resolute that she was fine."

"If she died do you think Abigail or some soldiers would bring her body back?"

"I don't think that her dying is part of the plan, but yes, I do think that someone would bring her body back."

"I wonder how Abigail is doing. She looked so weak when I was there last." Anna pursed her lips together and then asked William, "do you think it would be all right if I took a little walk outside?"

"A walk around the perimeter you mean? Go ahead."

"No, I mean a walk. I want to see what is so special about this planet to Serenity."

William again said go ahead and even waved his hand at her, almost dismissing her. Anna walked around the area and then noticed that while she had been out it had gotten a lot colder. She looked at where the moon was and she saw something shooting across it. Something in a crystal pod. Whatever was in it had a crash landing very close to where everyone was at the particular moment. Anna ran back inside with her news.

"William! Something just crashed on the planet." She nearly screamed.

"Like what?"  
"It was a crystal pod. I bet if we could get to it now, we might be able to sneak up on whoever is in it."

"Let's go." William and Anna were both outside and down the walkway to the temple, when a white light lit up the sky. An earthquake shook all of Tokyo, causing them both to fall down on the street. As they were getting back up, they saw a horde of the mutated humans running towards the origin of the light.

"That looked like Serenity's power." Anna said.

"We have to get there now." Once again William and Anna started to run. The first horde of the mutated humans was way ahead of them, but just as they were getting close to the crash landing, another blast of white light lit the area. All of the monsters around them were dead. "Serenity!" William yelled, running towards the large crater.

They saw her. Her long blond hair was encrusted with dirt and she had a nasty looking wound right in her shoulder. "Serenity, we have to go before more troops come." Anna said.

"Do you guys have enough power to transport all of us to where you guys are hiding?" Serena asked.

"No, we don't. We had to run all the way here."

"You guys haven't been sleeping enough have you?"

"We've been barely sleeping at all."

"More are coming," William said.

"Come on, we'll get you into hiding." Anna urged.

"No, I think I have enough power to teleport us away from here."

"Then hurry." Anna and William both grabbed one of Serena's hands and using all of her left over power, Serena was able to transport them to the street in front of the Temple. As their feet once again touched the ground, Serena collapsed. William picked her up and brought her into the Temple.

"Why are we here?" Serena asked them once they got into the building.

"This is where we are hiding." William said, as he set her down on the counter in the kitchen.

"What did you do to your shoulder?" Anna asked, touching the skin around the wound.

"An arrow. The head is still in there."

"You haven't been getting enough sleep either have you?"

"Why do you think I haven't been?"

"Your crystal should have been healing it."

William prodded the area around the wound. "It's infected."

"Just get the arrow head out; as I sleep it should heal." Serena responded.

"I don't think it'll work that way. It should be drained."

"Then just do it!" Serena gritted her teeth as exploding white hot pain suddenly consumed her.

Her voice woke Raye and Lita up. For a second they just stared at each other. As Serena let out a yell, they both leapt up from their beds and were racing into the kitchen. The sight of Serena on the counter clenching her teeth nearly made both of them break down.

"Serena?" Lita asked in a hesitant whisper.

Serena's entire body contorted so that she could see them. She was trying to offer a smile, but William had started cutting into the wound again. She turned back around and let out another yell, pulling Lita and Raye towards her.

"What happened to you?" Raye asked.

"Arrow head." Serena said gritting her teeth.

"Where is the other crystal ruler—Abigail?" Lita asked.

Tears started to roll down Serena's cheeks. "She died."

Everything was quiet. William was the one to break the silence. "What happened?"

All Serena could do was shake her head.

"It isn't your fault, Serena, whatever happened." Anna said quietly.

"It's because I wasn't paying attention that I was shot. It's because I was shot that she is dead. Will you just get the arrow head out?" Serena yelled.

That yell woke everyone else up. Darien's eyes came flying open as he heard her scream. He was the first off of his mat and then he ran down the hall. He saw Raye, Lita, William, and Anna around the counter. He walked up slowly. The first thing he saw of her was her hair hanging over the counter's edge. He started to shake. She was here.

"Just a little longer, Serena." Lita encouraged.

Lita's voice pulled Darien forward. He finally saw what everyone was so worried about. Serena's shoulder was bleeding profusely. "Serena?"

She didn't even try to turn around. William had the knife too deep in her shoulder for her to look for Darien's voice. She let out another scream. Darien walked towards where her head was. He touched her cheek, wiping tears away from it. He grabbed her hand as if to anchor her to earth. He wasn't going to let her go this time.

SAILOR MOON

_"Serena!" Abigail screamed. She rushed down the stairs towards where Serena had flown. When she reached the unconscious girl, she touched the arrow in her shoulder, praying that her cousin would stay asleep. She put her hand and the base of the wound and then broke the arrow. _

_ Her prayers weren't answered. Serena's eyes flew open and she screamed._

_ "I'm sorry, Serena, but the arrow has to come out of your shoulder." Her voice sounded far away._

_ "Your majesty…" the voice of the guard was slow. "They have breached the fortress."_

_ "This is it Serena. This is what we have been waiting for." Her words made no sense. Abigail put her hands out and started to put a crystal pod around Serena. _

_ "No, don't…" Serena tried to protest._

_ "Good-bye Serena. Make sure you save Earth." With those words, the pod was almost finished._

_ "Abigail don't do it!" Serena protested._

_ Her vision was starting to get blurry when blood splattered all over the pod, just as it covered Serena's face. Abigail fell down right on the pod._

_ "Slaughter him."_

Serena woke up with a scream. Within seconds, Amy was at her side.

"Are you okay?" Amy touched Serena's forehead. She drew her hand back quickly. Serena's forehead was covered in sweat and she was hot to the touch.

"I'm fine. How long have I slept?" Serena asked sitting up. She looked at the wound in her shoulder. It was partially healed. If she had slept for another hour it probably would have been completely healed.

"Just over five hours. You have a lot of cuts on your back, Serena." It was said so innocently, Serena started to cry.

"I've missed you, Amy." Serena hugged her friend and got off of the couch where she had been sleeping.

"We've missed you too." Amy was content to just follow her friend into the kitchen. "How was Eris?"

Serena had just reached for a box of cereal and a bowl when Amy asked her question. Serena took a deep breath and closed the cupboard. She set her bowl on the counter top and stared at it for a second before she finally answered Amy's question.

"A blood bath." It was all the answer Amy needed to realize Serena didn't want to talk about the subject.

"I'm sorry. I wish we could have been there with you."

Serena reached for the carton of milk. "I'm kind of glad that you weren't."

"Why?"

"You were definitely safer here."

"Don't give us that crap." Raye nearly yelled, tears streaming down her face.

Serena looked up at her friend. Behind Raye were Lita, Mina, and Darien with Luna on one shoulder and Artemis on the other.

"Hey, Raye." Serena said quietly, spurring her friend to action. Raye ran up to Serena and pulled her into a hug

"I've missed you so much." Lita said coming up behind them and joining in the hug.

"I'm so glad you're back." Mina said pushing Raye out of the way. Serena's eyes met Darien's. He put the cats on the counter and walked back out of the kitchen. Serena broke from the hug and walked up to the cats to pet them.

"He's mad at me isn't he?" Serena asked.

"You were gone for a long time, Serena." Luna said.

"I would have taken you guys if I had been allowed."

"He believes that you always had a choice. You just choice to not exercise it." Artemis explained.

Serena looked down at the white cat. "Then he really doesn't know me does he?"

"We know you, Serena and that's all that matters," Raye said coming up behind Serena to give her a hug.

Serena and her friends caught up during the day. She really wanted—and needed—to talk to William and Anna, but she didn't want to do that until it was later in the day. Serena had gone down to where the villagers were with William and Anna to talk to them, but none of the scouts were allowed down there. They stayed down there for at least two hours all the while telling them that although they would probably go stir crazy, they would have to remain in the basement until Pharaoh was defeated. She had to explain that it wasn't because they were inferior in any way, but merely because it would be easier to defend them when the scouts and the other rulers didn't have to worry about watching out for them while they were launching attacks. The villagers agreed.

They had just eaten lunch and they were all sitting in the kitchen. Lita was cooking something; Amy and Raye were talking about what they were going to do as soon as Pharaoh was gone. Raye was going to the beach and Amy wanted to go the library. Darien and Serena were sitting across from each other, but neither of them was talking. Darien had a book on his part of the counter top, and every now and then he would look up a Serena as if to make sure she was still sitting across from him. Serena had a piece of paper and a pencil in front of her. She had already drawn a castle and was currently working on shading it in. Mina walked into the kitchen, after eating lunch with the villagers, as soon as Serena stopped shading. All Mina could do was stand in the doorway as she watched her friend.

Serena was just shading in her castle when she noticed something growing on her hand. She dropped her pencil, ignoring the small clatter as it fell to the floor. She was hallucinating again. Her eyes had thought they saw a black hole suddenly appearing in the palm of her hand.

Darien must have seen what was happening too. He shut his book with a snap.

Serena heard it and she leapt up from the stool she was sitting on. She was nearly to the other side of the room when she fell to her knees.

"Serena!" She heard Darien scream. Serena didn't answer; she put her hands over her ears as if to ward off something she could hear but no one else could.

"Serena, are you okay?" Mina asked getting down on her knees next to her friend.

Darien was beside Serena in an instant. He picked her up and went to bring her into the living room, where she had been sleeping. Before he could carry her away though, William and Anna barged into the kitchen.

"What happened?" William asked, sleepily.

"I don't know she just freaked out." Darien pushed them aside and laid Serena down. She was squirming and he actually had to hold her down. "Serena, calm down."

"Canons…" Her teeth clenched together.

"What is going on?" Darien yelled still trying to hold down Serena.

"Move, Darien." Anna commanded. "Serena, you have to calm down."

"Let me up." She screamed back. Everyone was stunned for a second, allowing Serena all the time she needed to get up and leave the living room. Darien rushed out after her.

"What the hell was that?" He said to her.

"Not now, please. I-I need some quiet, please." Serena's eyes begged Darien to understand, but when he clenched his jaw and turned around to walk back inside, she knew he didn't. It was nightfall by the time Anna and William came out to talk to her. She was just sitting on the ground staring at her hand.

"Want to tell us why you freaked out now?" William asked.

"I thought something was growing on my hand, and I kind of freaked out." Serena whispered.

"Kind of?" Anna clarified. "You went through hell a couple hours ago, it's understandable that you freaked out. What did you think was growing on your hand?"

"It was just kind of a black hole." Serena looked at Anna and then looked at the landscape.

"We need to talk." William said, quietly.

"I know we do. Where are the soldiers that I sent here?" Serena asked.

"They died, just seconds before they landed and minutes before Jamison died."

Serena took a deep breath. "The girls said that you said that Pharaoh was leading the army. Did you see Jamison die? How was Pharaoh leading the army?"

"What do you mean?"

"I want to know if he is like his brother at all."

"Well you met him don't you remember?"

"He asked to meet us that time though. He wasn't trying to kill us."

"Well, now that I think about it, he didn't look the same as he did on Eris. He had this weird cloud around him."

Serena rubbed the back of her hand against her mouth. "Crap."

"What is it?" Anna asked.

"Pharaoh's brother, Pharaoh 90, was like covered in a cloud of electricity and dust. I don't understand why he was like a normal human on Eris, though. I wonder why he's changing."

"That's not all that is changing." William started, looking at Anna, as if he was going to get in trouble for saying what he was about to say.

Serena looked between them. "What do you mean?" When they continued to just look at each other, Serena asked again. "What do you mean? What is going on?"

"Where Timothy died…" William trailed off.

"Stop speaking in phrases and just tell me." Serena ordered.

"I don't understand what happened or why, but there is a red crystal growing near where he died."

Serena looked back towards the horizon, thinking about what William had said. She wasn't sure what to think about the crystal. "You said it was growing?"

"Well, it wasn't there before, so I'm assuming it is still growing."

Serena shook her head. "Let's not worry about that right now. We need to focus on getting the other villagers back here."


	19. Chapter 19

I do not own Sailor Moon.

Chapter 16—Anna

"What are we going to do?" Lita moaned, looking at the map. The girls, Darien, Serena, Anna, and William were all sitting around the table where a map was at the very center. Luna and Artemis were downstairs with the villagers and it wasn't long before they were going to be relieved by Amy. Serena, Anna, and William had just walked back inside.

"Why in the world did you guys choose a hotel?" Serena asked.

"We needed someplace big and that was the only place we could think of."

"You thought of here, didn't you?"

"It took a bit of thought to think of this place though. We only thought of the hotel because we were standing right in front of it when we were asked the question."

"Oh." Serena rolled her eyes and laughed. "Okay, so now all we have to worry about is getting to the hotel and back with a hundred villagers and then getting back here without meeting up with Pharaoh and all of his cronies."

"Pretty much." Raye agreed. She pointed to a back route to the hotel. "We haven't gone on this route yet, we could make it that way."

William looked at the route. It was mainly through alleys and by ways and it was directly off of the main road. "That'll work. How about we leave tomorrow at dawn?"

"I have a better idea. How about we just teleport there and then we can just teleport back?" Mina suggested.

"We can teleport us there, but the amount of strength needed to transport all of us _and_ all of the villagers back would be more power than we could handle." Anna explained.

"So then why can't you just teleport us there and then we can just walk back?"

"What if the route has changed from the time when we got this map? We have to make sure that it is still the same and that nothing is blocking the path."

"That's ridiculous!" Mina protested.

"No, it actually makes sense." Lita said thoughtfully. "Because they don't have enough power to teleport everyone back, we have to make sure we know the path we are to take."

"Oh." Mina said with a blank look.

"Serena, does this seem like a good route to take?" Anna asked.

Serena hadn't been paying much attention until Anna called her name. "Uh…yeah, that route is fine."

"Are you okay?" William asked.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, you seem to be extremely distracted."

"I know. I'm sorry." Serena shook her head as if she was trying to clear her head. "That route seems fine; it doesn't look like we would have any problems with it, but we should still be extremely careful."

"Of course." Anna agreed.

"What time should we go, then?" Amy questioned. She was looking at Serena when she asked it. Serena still looked like she was distracted, like there were too many things going over through her mind at one time.

Serena was staring at the map, pretending to look as if she was trying to decide if the way they were taking would be the safest way to go. Her mind wasn't on the map though. She didn't want to risk her friends' lives until she was certain that the route was safe.

"…four am is a little early?" Raye was saying.

"No, it isn't. It'll have the right amount of light so that we can see, plus if we can get there in less than an—"

"We can't just go over there at four am." Serena protested quietly. "We have to send out a couple spies to scout out the area. We can't just go in blindly."

No one said anything; instead they all just looked at each other. Serena still wasn't looking at them, still staring straight at the map. When the silence continued, Serena looked up at them.

"What?" She questioned, still quiet.

"That's a very smart idea, actually, Serena." William responded.

"So who's going to go then?" Raye asked.

"I'll go." Serena immediately volunteered. She noticed that Darien clenched his teeth even though his mouth was closed.

"Why do _you_ want to go?" Lita asked.

Serena sighed. Her eyes looked sad when she finally said, "I just have to finish this."

"You shouldn't go alone." Mina said.

_It would be safer if I went alone_, Serena thought. She took a deep breath. "Then who wants to go with me? Keep in mind that everyone that has been around me has already died." She tried to keep her voice light, but she knew that no one especially wanted to go with her.

Darien looked at the different faces at the table. "I'll go."

When Serena's eyes met his, she knew that it was going to be the worst trip of her life—unless by some chance she could get someone else to switch places with him. She knew that they had a ton to talk about, but she didn't feel like she was up to it. She literally felt sick just thinking about the idea of talking to him. She knew that he would never deliberately hurt her, but she wasn't sure if she was ready to have that talk just yet.

She loved him with all of her heart. When she was on Eris, whenever she slept, she had dreamed only of Darien. It didn't help that when she had left they hadn't exactly been. Now that she was finally here and she could see him, it was like he hated her.

"Serena?" Lita asked, tilting her head to look into the blonde's eyes.

Serena blinked and just looked at Lita without saying anything.

"You are really zoning out." She sounded surprised. Once Serena rolled her eyes, Lita continued, "well you sent them here in a type of bubble; can't we just send them back to the Temple like that?"

Serena considered the idea. "It only takes two crystal rulers to make one, so we could, but…" She looked towards William. "Didn't you say that my soldiers died on entry?"

"Yes."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Mina asked.

Serena's eyebrows rose as she gave shot a are-you-seriously-asking-that-question glance at Mina. "It means that it is very likely that they're watching the skies. They did see me come in."

"But could we do it?" Lita asked.

"I…" Serena took a deep breath. She rubbed her face and folded her hands to rest them on her lips. "I don't want to risk more innocent lives." Her eyes were sad as she said it.

"Either way we have no other choice." Anna whispered.

"I know, but making them go up in the shield is just screaming for someone to shoot them down."

"One of us could go with them." Amy suggested.

"And you'll be shot down and die with the rest of them? No, we are not doing that." Serena said, as her eyes hardened resolutely.

"Okay."

"What time are we going to leave tomorrow, Serena?" Darien asked.

Serena winced. She wasn't sure if it was a blessing or a curse when Anna spoke up. "Darien, it's not that…I don't doubt your abilities, but I think that maybe William or I should go with Serena."

"Are you serious? Why?"

Anna stumbled for words.

"I have fought these guys, too. I know what I have to do."

"I'm not saying that you don't. All I'm saying is that you've been distracted of late—"

Darien scoffed. "Then I guess Serena shouldn't be going either."

"Oh good God!" Serena exclaimed, pounding her hands on the table where the map was lying. "If this is such a big deal, we might as well not send anyone out at all!"

"Serena, stop exaggerating." Darien chided.

Serena clenched her teeth together. "Don't test me, Darien."

Darien sucked in a huge breath getting ready to yell at Serena. Before he could find his voice, Serena clutched her forehead and walked out of the room. Before Darien could follow her, Raye did.

"Smooth, Darien." Raye said as she followed her friend. When she finally stopped, Serena was outside of the temple.

"Which hotel did you put them in?" Serena asked.

"Why?"

"Just which hotel?"

"It was the um…the um… the-the Hilton. Serena, why do you have that look in your eye?"

Serena didn't answer, but instead offered Raye her hand. "Take my hand, and I'll show you." Raye gingerly took the hand offered to her. As soon as she had a firm grasp on it, it felt like they were being flown into the air. It was barely the length of a blink, before Raye felt her feet touch the ground.

"What was that?" Raye gasped.

"I teleported up to the hotel." Serena said it quickly and then, "do you feel anything?"

Raye concentrated. "Something's wrong."

"Take my hand again, Raye. We need to get back now." Raye grabbed her hand again and in less than a blink, they were back in front of the temple. Serena ran into the house, with Ray on her heels. She pushed open the door immediately, and blurted out, "we have to get to the hotel now."

"Why? What's wrong?" William asked.

"You teleported there didn't you?" Anna accused.

"You know we never would have left if Raye and I didn't. It doesn't matter though, we have to get there. Now!"

"Are we walking or teleporting?"

Serena bit her lip. "Raye, what do you think?"

Everyone turned towards Raye. "I felt evil from all sides. In the hotel, radiating from the alleyways around it, lurking in the front of it. We need to walk there."

"What if you're wrong?" Amy asked.

"What if I'm right?" Raye countered.

"When do we leave?" Anna asked.

"As soon as you guys—" Serena motioned to Darien, Amy, Lita, and Raye "—transform." Within seconds they were on the road, leaving Mina at home to guard the villagers

Everyone was quiet as they walked through Tokyo. Sailor Mars was at the front of the group. Sailor Jupiter took the back and Sailor Mercury was in the middle, trying to calculate if they were going to be attacked anytime soon. Tuxedo Mask and William walked ahead of Serena and Anna.

"Something is coming." Mercury whispered. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, everyone got into fighting position. Tuxedo Mask stepped in front of Serena. Within seconds hundreds of the deformed humans had surrounded them.

"Mars Fire Ignite!"

"Mercury Bubbles!"

"Sparkling Wide Pressure!"

The girls' powers all hit the monsters, but it only took out a fraction of the enemies. Serena raised her hands to take care of a monster close to her when Tuxedo Mask stepped in front of her and took care of the monster Serena had aimed for. Serena wasn't sure if it was on purpose or not, so she decided to ignore it.

The monsters started to separate the group. Serena, Anna, Tuxedo Mask, and Sailor Mars were separated together while the others were on the other side of the line of monsters.

Each time Serena tried to take out any monster, Tuxedo stepped in front of her. Serena had been quiet for too long. "What the hell is the matter with you?" She screamed at him.

"What do you mean?" He knew though. She knew he knew.

"You keep getting in front of me each time I try to shoot for a monster." The battle continued to fight around them. In the distance the sky was starting to change colors as dawn approached.

"I have no idea what you're talking about!"

"What don't you get? I had to leave!" Tears started to rush down her cheeks. "I didn't want to, but Abigail offered me a way to control my powers. I had to go!"

"No you didn't!" He finally turned towards her. "You could have stayed and we would have found a way. You never had to leave!"

"You still don't get it! These monsters don't look familiar to you, do they? You were so wrapped up in Rini the last time that you didn't get to see them much. This is Pharaoh 90's brother. They have the same power, but Pharaoh is stronger. His brother nearly killed me and Saturn, but that didn't matter to you. As long as Rini was safe, then everything was all right. You never understood. If Pharaoh 90 could almost kill us, then what could this one do? Pharaoh 90 is nothing compared to his brother—"

Serena cut off. The ground was shaking and something hung in the air.

Sailor Mars turned to them. "Serena, do you feel that?"

"Feel what?" Tuxedo asked.

"Run." Serena whispered.

Both Tuxedo and Mars looked at her. "What was that?" Mars asked.

"Run." This time Serena said it louder. "Now!"

Mars started to walk away, but Tuxedo Mask needed more than just Serena's order. "Why?"

"Sailor Mars, get him out of here. Find William as soon as possible. Tuxedo Mask, go! I don't want to lose you too!"

He looked straight into her eyes. He nodded then started to walk away.

"Run!" She once again screamed. They were only a hundred feet away from Serena when an enormous dust cloud consumed her.

"Serena!" Tuxedo screamed.

"Oh God." Mars fell to her knees.

"Help her!"

"She can't." William came up to them. "We have to get out of here, while the cloud expands." Leading them to a tall building, they were all able to watch as the cloud got larger. Tuxedo's heart was beating so fast. He was so scared for Serena. He promised himself that if she died, no one on the planet would survive his wrath. He had to rectify that though. She wanted the planet and its people saved. So he made a new promise. No crystal ruler would survive his wrath and he wanted William to be the first.

Pink, grey, white, and red lights were coming from inside the dust cloud.

"What is that thing?" Tuxedo asked.

"He truly is Pharaoh 90's brother." Mars muttered.

"Mars what is that thing?"  
"Pharaoh 90 was in a similar dust cloud. I could only see him from a distance, but Serena said that she and Saturn had to go into it. Only Sailor Moon's crystal let her get in though. She was so hurt, when she got back out. Her sailor outfit was ripped and torn. She never told me what actually happened though. I only know what I saw."

_Was I so worried over Rini that I actually didn't care about Serena? If she had died while trying to defeat Pharaoh 90 I would never even have Rini. Serena, you better come back to me!_

A horrible scream suddenly surrounded Tokyo. The dust cloud disintegrated and all that appeared outside of it was Serena. Her meatballs blew in the wind. She looked up into the sky, just as William disappeared to go sit down next to her, leaving Mars and Tuxedo Mask up on the roof top. Both jumped down to join them. When they landed they noticed how badly injured she really was. She had various cuts all down her legs and on both her arms. On her right arm though was an extremely large cut. It was deep and it wrapped around her arm from her wrist to just above her elbow.

"Serena," Sailor Mars dropped to her knees and hugged her friend. "Are you okay?"

"Where is Anna?" Tuxedo Mask asked as he helped Serena stand up. As soon as she was fully on her own two feet and balanced she put her right arm close to her stomach and cradled it with her left.

"What do we do now?" William asked.

"We need to get those people back to the safe house. We have to press on."

"What are we going to do about—" Mars didn't need to say the rest of the thought because everyone already knew what she was going to say.

Serena started to breathe a little harder. "Our first priority is to the rest of the people from Eris. We'll concentrate on them, and then we'll concentrate on getting Anna back.

"I'm sorry, Serena." Tuxedo Mask put a hand on her shoulder, but she simply shrugged the hand off.

"We have to go." Mars said wrapping her arms around her friend in a hug, while wishing she could do more to offer comfort. "More are coming, we have to hurry."

They started to run straight towards the hotel. Mercury and Jupiter were already waiting. They immediately ran towards Serena.

"We have to get inside," William insisted.

Venus bit her lip.

"What's wrong?" Tuxedo asked.

"The people…they're all dead."


	20. Chapter 20

I do not own Sailor Moon.

Chapter 17—William

"Are you freaking serious?" Sailor Mars said, walking into the hotel building. "We just risked our lives for nothing."

"Where is Anna?" Sailor Mercury asked.

Mars just shook her head.

"How?" Sailor Jupiter seemed to understand what Mercury hadn't.

"Pharaoh came and took her while she and Serena were inside fighting." Mars looked towards the hallway. "What's down there?" She pointed.

"Um…a couple of rooms, a weight room, and the pool. Why?"

"I feel evil coming from that direction. Serena, Tuxedo Mask, William—we should head down that way." Mars, Mercury and Jupiter started to walk down the hallway, with the other three on their tails. Each room that walked by, Mars felt no evil—until they got to the pool. Mars and Mercury walked around the pool looking for anything, Tuxedo Mask and Jupiter went the opposite way of Mars and Mercury; and Serena and William walked right up next to the pool.

"You guys there's something in the pool." Serena shouted. Everyone was almost back to where they started.

"I don't see anything." Jupiter said.

"There is definitely something in there." William responded

"You guys seriously see something?" Mars asked. Mercury whipped out her computer and started typing.

Before she could ever find the answer Serena and William couldn't see it anymore. As they moved closer to the edge of the pool the others stayed where they were. Their eyes searched the water, but it was too late. Two slimy tentacles got out of the water and wrapped themselves around Serena's left ankle and William's right. Serena managed to turn so she was on her stomach when it pulled her in, but William's head knocked so hard against the cement floor, blood leaked and trailed a path in to the pool, As the monster pulled them both in.

"Serena!" Tuxedo screamed rushing towards the water. Both Serena and William were under the water, and still they couldn't see what had taken their friend into the water. Darien watched as both Serena and William struggled, but they were both losing air fast.

Finally the monster released them both. They burst up out of the water, breathing heavily. Darien reached his hand out to Serena, beckoning her, but before she was a foot away, the monster grabbed her ankle again, dragging her down to the bottom. William couldn't even reach the side of the pool before the monster grabbed his ankle too. Both of them were dragged into a deeper part of the pool. Darien followed them around the edge, trying to keep his eye on Serena, trying to help her, doing anything he could to get her away from the thing that had dragged her down.

"Serena!" He screamed again.

"We need to get them out!" Mars screamed.

"Can't you guys help her?"

"Fire doesn't work in water."

"Electricity could kill them."

A gasp sounded, turning them around. This time it was only William. Darien actually touched his hand before he was pulled back under. Before he was though, Darien noticed that his lips had started to get purple. Their moves became lethargic and slow. Finally both stopped moving, stopped struggling.

"No!" Tuxedo Mask screamed from the bottom of his heart. Just as he screamed it, a golden light burst from his chest. The earth shook. Then it was as if he were trapped in slow motion. He felt as if he blacked out, but he never lost consciousness. Serena was too important; he wouldn't allow himself to faint—not now.

The water in the pool had been splashed out and the monster was gone. Serena and William were under the fog where the water had been. Darien clutched at his heart and almost fell to his knees the pain was so strong. He didn't though. He jumped into the dry pool and ran up to where he saw Serena's meatballs.

"Serena!" He screamed once he got to where Serena was. Mars and Jupiter ran past him to see to William, but Mercury stayed beside him and Serena. "She's not breathing! No! Serena, don't you dare leave me!" Darien started to perform mouth to mouth. As soon as his mouth touched hers though, her opened and coughed up water. "Thank God." Darien whispered as he grabbed her close to him.

"What happened?" She whispered, taking deep breaths.

"You and William were dragged into the water, you almost died." Darien let Serena go. Serena could only watch as his eyes rolled back and he fell backwards.

"Darien!" Serena reacted immediately. She was so relieved when she felt his pulse.

"Serena, do you remember what happened when your crystal woke up?" Raye asked after transforming back.

"You think Darien's crystal woke up?"

"Well, the fog appeared when yours did, same with the earthquake."

"Amy, what size was the earthquake?"

Amy did a few calculations. "It was a seven. A couple of buildings fell, but since no is even in Japan, no one was injured."

"Serena, you had a bruise on your chest, I'll bet that Darien has one too." Lita said. Everyone watched as Serena opened Darien's shirt and fingered a large bruise in the middle of his chest.

"We can't move him, and I suspect he'll sleep here for a while, so we better make camp down here."

"Should we get him out of the pool?" Raye asked.

"You think you can lift him?" When Raye shook her head, Serena laughed. "Yeah, we'll stay down here."

Sailor Moon

When Darien woke up, he woke up in time to hear Serena say something about Eris. For a second he didn't let any of them know that he was awake. He was content just to look at Serena. She looked tired and extremely sad. Under the circumstances he could totally understand why.

It wasn't the only thing he understood either. His heart had felt like it was about to explode when…he wasn't even sure what happened. All he knew was that if Serena had died he would have also. He still couldn't understand why she didn't tell them where she was going or why she couldn't have taken them with her to Eris, but he understood why she believed that she needed training. It was horrible knowing that he could possibly kill someone because he couldn't even control the power that channeled itself through him.

"Serena…" He whispered.

"Hi." She whispered back. She grabbed his hand and looked into his eyes. "Are you feeling better?"

"I'm getting there. Help me up." As Serena helped him, he clutched at his chest. "Do I have a bruise too?"

"Yeah."

"I have no idea how you could possibly have gotten up and transformed and then jumped out my window. I feel like I've been hit by a truck." Darien raised his hand and rubbed his neck.

Serena just shrugged and started to turn her head away. Darien grabbed her chin though and gently turned her back towards him.

"Did William live?"

Serena shook her head. "We're the last two now."

"I'm sorry."

Serena sighed. "We knew what was going to happen."

"We need to talk Serena."

"I know we do, but we don't need an audience to do it." Serena stood up. "We should get moving."

"I know we should, but will we be able to practice at the Temple?"

"It doesn't actually matter if you can or can't." Raye said.

"Why do you say that?" Darien asked.

Serena scratched her head, and the others shuffled their feet.

"What? What's going on?" Darien tried.

"Anna contacted us." Lita said.

"What happened?"

Everyone looked towards Serena, who finally spoke. "She said that Pharaoh knew exactly where we were located. Anna said that they were going to wait until we got home and then they'd attack."

"So why are we going home?"

"Mina is still there. We can't just leave her alone!"

"Besides that how will we know if they just won't attack us here? Or what if they attack Mina and the other villagers while we aren't there?" Amy said.

Darien squinted his eyes towards Serena. She wasn't meeting his eyes. He knew that there had to have been more to the story than just what she was saying. He knew that he wasn't going to get a straight answer from her until they were alone. "So how are we going to get back then?"

"We should just go back the way we came from, except this time we shouldn't split up." Raye said.

"You've talked it through?" Darien asked, still concerned about what Serena was hiding.

Everyone nodded.

"We have to get moving; we've been here for too long already." Lita said. "I'm sure Lita is worried about us."

"You guys didn't call her?"

"We only called to tell her that we made it to the hotel. We didn't expand on it."

Darien nodded and within seconds they were on their way. Darien and Sailor Mercury walked next to each other towards the front, while Sailor Mars and Jupiter walked with Serena in the back.

"When did you guys see Anna?" Darien asked Mercury.

She made a face before answering. "She came almost n hour after you fell unconscious."

"What was with the face?"

"Well…we didn't actually see her."

"What are you talking about?"

"Raye said that both Anna and Serena disappeared in a type of cloud—almost like when Serena fought Pharaoh 90. When Anna appeared, she sort of…absorbed… Serena in the same type of cloud."

"So you never actually saw Anna?"

"No, we didn't."

"Could she have said anything else to Serena? Something that she didn't tell you?"

Mercury shook her head. "Serena wasn't even in there for more than ten seconds."

"So there wouldn't have been enough time for her to say anything else?"

"Not unless she spoke very quickly."

Darien nodded and looked back towards Serena. She was looking at the ground and not really paying attention. "Hey, Mercury, would you mind if I went back and walked with Serena?"

"Not at all. Why don't I drop back and send her up here?" Before Darien could respond, Mercury had dropped back and Serena was walking towards him.

"Hey." Darien said to her, disturbed that she still wasn't meeting his eyes. He took a deep breath before continuing, "I'm sorry, Serena."

"For what?"

"For thinking that you had no reason to leave. When I woke up…" Darien sighed. "When I woke up, it felt like the crystal was uncontrollable. I was terrified that if it could just come out like that then, it could come out anytime I had a problem and put you and anyone else near me in danger. I have never felt so powerless before."

"You didn't need to apologize, Darien."

"Yes, I did. I treated you horribly, and I had no right to."

"You did have a right, Darien. I left."

"Will you stop making excuses for me?" He said through clenched teeth, so forcefully that Serena flinched. "Why are you acting like this?"

"Can you honestly ask me that?" Serena said too calmly. "Two of my friends were just taken from me. Anna was brainwashed by Pharaoh, and William was killed by one of Pharaoh's minions. In my book, I believe I have every right to be acting like this. As a matter of fact, I have the right to be acting hysterical because I am going to be the next one gone."

Darien's eyes widened. "What do you mean you're going to be the next one?"

Serena shook her head.

Darien knew then that he wasn't going to get another answer out of her. He took a deep breath and they continued on in silence.

"What do you think they're saying to each other?" Jupiter asked her friends.

"It definitely looks like he's yelling at her." Mars said. "Mercury, did he said why he wanted to talk to Serena?"

Mercury shook her head. "All he said was that he wanted to drop back and walk with her."

"Well, that's all they're doing right now." Jupiter said, disappointed.

"Are you serious? I wanted them to make up. Stupid Darien." Mars grumbled.

"I guess they just need more time." Mercury concluded, and they continued the rest of the trip in silence.

When they reached the Temple, Serena yelled out that she would be the one to take the position of guard, while the others went in and ate.

"Will you be alright out here alone?" Darien asked her.

"I'll be fine, just go in and eat."

Darien and the others walked inside. Raye stayed behind for a second looking at Serena.

"What's wrong, Raye?" Mina asked.

"Have you guys noticed that Serena's changed?"

"What do you mean?" Darien asked.

"Well, she doesn't sleep for at least twenty-four hours, and then she doesn't eat. What's even worse is that when she does eat, she only nibbles at her food. I really wish that we knew what had happened to her while she was on Eris."

"Let's go eat for right now." Darien suggested. "As soon as I'm done, I'll bring her out some food."

Serena watched her friends as they walked into the Temple. When Darien had apologized to her, she nearly screamed and hugged him. Until she remembered what Anna had said to her. It nearly killed her to pretend indifference when all she wanted to do was weep and cling to him. Serena was just about to turn around to face the stairs in front of the Temple, when she felt a presence behind her.

"Hello, Anna." Serena said quietly, still facing towards the entrance of the Temple.

"Have you decided on the ultimatum I gave you yet?" Serena flinched as she started talking. It wasn't Anna's true voice. It was deeper and more shallow.

"Yes." Serena finally turned towards her old friend. Anna's face was deathly pale. Her eyes were surrounded by almost black circles. Her eyes themselves were glazed over. Her lips were cracked and nearly white. "On one condition."

Anna's head turned so it was at an unnatural angle. "And what condition would that be?"

"Defeat me and I will—I will willingly go to your side."

"That's it?" Anna laughed. "That won't be too hard. Let's just see if you can even harm your friend."

Serena looked away for a slight second. "You really know nothing about me then do you?"

Anna laughed again, as she raised her hand and enveloped Serena in a cloud of dust.


	21. Chapter 21

I do not own Sailor Moon.

So sorry about this, someone stole my USB where all of my stories were. It made me cry. :,( But here is the remade version that is a little less epic than what was on my USB.

Last time…

"Yes." Serena finally turned towards her old friend. Anna's face was deathly pale. Her eyes were surrounded by almost black circles. Her eyes themselves were glazed over. Her lips were cracked and nearly white. "On one condition."

Anna's head turned so it was at an unnatural angle. "And what condition would that be?"

"Defeat me and I will—I will willingly go to your side."

"That's it?" Anna laughed. "That won't be too hard. Let's just see if you can even harm your friend."

Serena looked away for a slight second. "You really know nothing about me then do you?"

Anna laughed again, as she raised her hand and enveloped Serena in a cloud of dust.

And Now….

Chapter 18—Distractions

Serena felt the dust surround her entire body. It blew her hair all around her face. She felt her clothes being whipped around her body. She thought that she could hear her friends calling out her name, but when she turned to look at them all she could see was the same ominous clouds that she had been in when she had fought Pharaoh 9.

Slowly she turned to face Anna. She wasn't sure what had happened, but Anna looked almost demonic. Serena thought back to when Darien had been brainwashed by Queen Beryl. He had looked normal except his voice had sounded meaner. Anna looked demonic and she talked with a lower undertone to her voice.

Serena raised her hands to get her crystal to fire.

"You won't be able to defeat me." Anna cried.

"Don't count on it." Serena said, just seconds before a white light came from her hands.

SAILOR MOON

Darien and the others had been sitting in the dining room, eating the small meal that Mina had prepared for them. They were so hungry they didn't care that the water for the instant ramen had been burned. They didn't even care that the ramen tasted like feet. After every other bite, Darien would look towards the door to see if Serena was going to come in or not.

He seriously needed to talk to her. He didn't understand how his power had just suddenly appeared. Maybe it was a form of self-preservation. That theory worked well for when Serena got her power, but it didn't fit the same way for how he got his. He guessed in a way that it fit, but it wasn't his life that was in jeopardy, but Serena's.

"Darien, is the food okay?" Raye asked quietly.

Darien looked up from his food. He realized that he had just been stirring it around and around his bowl. "Yeah, it's good." He stirred his food around again and then he made a face. "I'm full, so I'm going to go and find Serena."

"Okay." Lita said nodding.

The talking around the table didn't resume until they were sure that Darien was fully in the kitchen.

"Spill." Mina started. "What happened in the hotel this—"

A clatter suddenly sounded from the kitchen, followed by a yell from Darien.

"Serena! No!"

Within seconds everyone was up from the table and rushing towards where Darien was staring at a huge dust cloud. They thought that the enemy was just getting ready to attack until they saw a strand of Serena's hair fly by.

"How did she get in there?" Amy screamed.

"Who cares?" Darien screamed back. "How are we going to get her out?"

Amy took out her computer and started typing rapidly. For a full minute, she searched the facts about the dust cloud. "I don't know. The cloud is made up of Hydrogen, Helium, Nitrogen, and Oxygen, but it's spinning so fast that it's picking up dirt and won't let anyone else get in unless they have a significant…"

"Significant what, Amy?" Lita asked.

"A significant power." Luna concluded, looking towards Darien.

"You just got your powers awakened, Darien. I think that you might be able to actually enter the cloud." Artemis declared.

"Are you serious?" Darien asked, his eyes wide.

"That's how Serena got in when she went to fight Pharaoh 9. If I recall, the properties of the cloud are virtually the same." Amy said.

"So how do I get in then? Do I just try to walk in or will I need to show some form of proof that I actually have the power?"

"I think that all you have to do is show a form of your power, and then I think that all you have to do is walk in."

"How do you know all about his? I thought that you guys weren't with Serena when she died."

"We weren't. We had to get all of the material second hand." Luna replied.

"How am I supposed to show a form of my power? I don't even know how I got it; much less how to use it! What if I do more damage than good once I get in there?"

"Do you still love Serena?" Raye asked, clutching Darien's shoulders and making him look into her eyes.

"Of course I do." It was said without hesitation.

"Your powers came because you feared that Serena was going to die. You cared for her more than you did for your life. You could have run and saved yourself, but you saved her instead. You love her, Darien. Your powers emptied an Olympic sized swimming pool that held over a thousand gallons of water. You killed the monster and saved Serena. If your power did that just to save her life when she was in danger, don't you think that it can do it again?"

Raye let go of Darien's shoulders, turned him around, and pushed him straight towards the dust cloud.

"How do I get my power to show itself?" Darien asked.

"I have a feeling that it's going to be like how Serena can call on her crystal when she needs it." Luna said. "She only takes it out when she absolutely needs it, but the rest of the Sailor Scouts always gave some of their powers to Serena. It helped to increase her crystal's power. So I think that if the girls could lend you some of their power, then you will be able to get in rather easily."

The girls nodded their assent and then quickly took out their transformation power sticks and held them straight at Darien. Darien's eyes widened for a split second. Even though he knew that what they were doing wasn't going to physically hurt him, he still didn't like being on the receiving end. Darien was so involved in thinking that he needed to get to Serena and fast, that he didn't even notice what they had yelled out. He had turned towards the cloud and then suddenly out of nowhere he felt extra power—power that he knew wasn't his.

His hands started to glow a pure golden color. He felt this magnificent rush of power. He only was thinking of Serena, only thinking that he had to get to her. He had to get to her now.

Or he might as well stay here and die. Because he knew that life without her was no life at all.

SAILOR MOON

Serena felt her friends' energy. She knew that it wasn't directed towards her, so she automatically assumed that Darien was coming in with her. She took a deep breath and tears started to roll down her cheeks.

"So do you feel guilty for killing all of those people?" Demonic Anna asked.

"I never killed anyone." It felt like the battle had been going on for hours, even though Serena knew that it was only a couple of minutes. Both of the women were cut up and definitely hurting. Blood was covering the ground.

"You did! You're a murderer!"Anna screamed.

A golden light burst through the dust and gas to the left of Serena. Anna raised her hand to get ready for the next attack that she knew was coming. She wished that she could do this all by herself, but she had serious doubts that she was strong enough for it.

"You thought that you were so strong. Abigail did; I did, but you are no stronger that any of us. We put you up on a pedestal and in return we had to train a weakling." Anna was saying.

"Really? Because you were losing when I came along. In fact the only major battles you won, were won with my help." Serena retorted with clenched teeth.

Anna suddenly noticed Darien's presence. "So your boyfriend is one of us too?" Anna raised her hand and her power started to form around her. It was no longer pure, but instead had darkness spread throughout it, and it was pointed straight at him.

Darien raised his hand in the same way and willed his own crystal power to come out. The only power that he could generate though was small and week compared to Anna's. Just as he figured that he was about to die, the reassuring power of Serena's crystal surrounded him. A silvery white light shot straight at Anna. As Anna flipped her power from him to Serena, a massive explosion suddenly took place as both crystal powers met. Darien and both crystal rulers got thrown apart, but they still remained inside the swirling vortex.

Anna was seriously hurt and remained on the ground apart from where Darien and Serena were. Serena crawled to where Darien was laying.

"You idiot." She breathed. "We need to get out of here." She glanced to where Anna was still struggling to get up. "Do you think that you can get enough power so that we can blow her to Timbuktu?"

"I can if you can."

"Figures that only you can get your power without any training." Serena said, smiling through the blood that was rolling down her face. "Raise your hand, and think about protecting me, and I'll think about protecting you. Our powers will be stronger because we love each other."

Together they stood up. Darien raised his hand and thought only of Serena. He thought of the times when he nearly lost her, and his feelings of when he got her back. He was able to watch as his power nearly rivaled Serena's for strength. Anna was just getting up when both powers hit her. She was able to block their powers and defended herself, but both powers were too strong for her to be able to hold them off for a long period of time. She screamed as their powers enveloped her.

"Hold on!" Serena screamed, reaching for him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and held on tight to her, as they got lifted up into the air as the vortex started to spin faster as it dissolved.

The girls were watching as powers exploded in the dust cloud, just after Darien had walked straight into it. They could hear screaming, but that's all it sounded like. It didn't sound like they were saying any words at all. They could feel Darien and Serena's powers, and Raye thought that she could feel Anna's power, but she thought that Anna was dead, so she didn't think that her feelings were right. The vortex started to spin faster and then suddenly Darien and Serena, still gripping each other tightly, landed on the ground right in front of them.

Darien had put his hand on Serena's head so that when they landed she didn't hurt herself when she landed. Amy came running up to them and grabbed her computer to make sure that they were both okay. Darien wouldn't let go of Serena though, so it was hard for Amy to get a proper reading.

"Darien, let her go, and let Amy take care of her." Raye said.

"No, I'll take care of her." Darien said, picking her up and bringing her into the house.

"I wonder what happened in there." Lita said.

"It doesn't matter. I don't think that they're going to tell us what happened." Mina responded as she watched Darien take Serena into the house.

Darien carried her right to the bathroom, where he set her down on the counter of the sink. He looked at her face and was horrified to see that she had cuts all over her face and body. He grabbed a white washcloth and got it wet with warm water. He started to bathe her wounds.

"I swear to God, Serena, if you ever do that again, you won't ever have to worry about Pharaoh killing you, cause I'll do it myself." Darien put two of his fingers beneath her chin and lifted her face to meet his. When her beautiful blue eyes met his, he couldn't hold back anymore. He gently kissed her lips.

"I can't believe that you're actually kissing," Raye yelled, causing them to break the kiss and then turn towards their friend to give her an ice cold glare. Their friend was smiling though. "Well if you guys are about done making out, we would appreciate your presence in the living room."

"Okay, we'll be there in a couple of minutes." Darien said, still not releasing Serena's chin. As soon as she left Darien shut the door to the bathroom and turned back towards Serena.

"You should have done that when you first carried me in here." Serena said smiling.

"Yeah, I know, but I was a little preoccupied." Darien stepped back to where their original positions had been. He gently moved her legs apart so that he could stand between them. Serena in turn, hooked her legs around his. He didn't move to kiss her though.

"Let me finish cleaning your face and then we can get back to the making out." Darien said, grinning. He got the wash cloth wet again and then continued to wipe her face. After her face was a rosy pink, he continued down to her neck and everywhere else there was no clothing. He threw the now dirty wash cloth into the sink and then cradled Serena's face in his hands. At first his lips were gentle on hers, but then she opened her mouth and they both were lost. Things were starting to get pretty hot and heavy when a knock sounded on the door.

"You guys, are you ever going to come back out?" It was Amy.

Darien tore his mouth away from Serena's. Both were breathing pretty heavily. "We'll be out in another minute." He actually didn't want to leave the bathroom. Serena's lips were swollen and just begging to be kissed again. His hands had reached into her clothing; her hands had already unbuttoned his shirt and were tracing his muscular chest and abs, and her feet were running up and down his pant legs.

"That's what you said five minutes ago." Raye yelled.

Serena laughed as she looked up at Darien. She had bedroom eyes. Each time that he saw them, he became instantly aroused. This time was no exception. He leaned down to her ear. He nibbled on the lobe and then gently kissed the soft skin just beneath it. "Maybe we should have told them no—that we weren't going to be coming out." He whispered.

"I think that it's a little too late for that." Serena said, unhooking her legs.

"Too late for what?" Lita questioned.

"Nothing." Darien yelled back to the brunette.

"Come on, we have to explain to them what happened in the dust cloud." Serena hopped off of the sink and walked over to where the door was. Darien caught her hand before it could reach the door knob.

"Why don't you guys go and make dinner and then we'll come out?" Darien suggested to the girls that he knew were listening on the other side of the door. He picked up Serena and put her back on the counter.

"What? You just ate!" Raye exclaimed.

"Then go make food for Serena." He started to kiss his way down Serena's neck.  
"Well there is still some ramen left so she can just eat that."

"They aren't making this easy." Darien whispered huskily. Serena just laughed. She was definitely not going to help him. She was more than willing to stay in here or go out into the living room. He got them into this mess, and he was going to get them out of it.

"Serena needs new clothes." Darien said, still trying to get them to go away.

"I'm sure that the clothes she has on now are fine." Raye said. She knew what he was doing. She didn't mind that they wanted some time alone, but she wasn't going to make it easy. Lita and Amy were actually just sitting on the floor quietly snickering. Mina had come over for a while, but she had just rolled her eyes and walked away.

"Besides, I'm sure that Raye has some clothes that Serena could borrow." Lita said.

"Yeah, so why don't you guys come out, we can feed Serena, and then you guys can tell us everything that happened in that dust cloud."

Everyone waited for his answer, but no sounds were coming from the bathroom. Raye was about to knock on the door when Luna and Artemis came in from the kitchen.

"What in heaven's name are you guys doing?" Luna asked.

"Well we were annoying Darien and Serena, but now it looks like we might have to wait until they are done before we can actually talk to them about anything concerning the dust cloud." Raye quietly started to open the door.

"Raye! What are you doing?" Lita asked her friend, even as she got up to stand behind her.

"I just want to see what they are doing in there."

"I thought that they were making out." Amy said innocently.

Both Raye and Lita stuck their heads in the crack after they opened the door. Darien had Serena sitting on the counter of the sink. Serena had lost her shirt and was currently only in her bra. Darien's shirt had been opened, but it was still partly on one of his shoulders. Their eyes were closed and they were giving open mouth kisses. When Darien started to trail his mouth down her throat, Raye gently closed the door.

"Well, that's a good sign." Lita said quietly. Raye only smiled. She had a feeling that even though that was happening, something bad was about to happen.

It was close to an hour before Serena or Darien had even left the bathroom. All of the girls had stayed on the other side of the house just in case either person were loud enough to be heard. When they finally emerged, Serena's face was slightly pink and Darien had a loving glint in his eyes. Neither of them could take their eyes off of the other, and it only made the girls sigh in envy.

There was no way that Serena would ever have regretted anything that she and Darien had just done. She wanted to spend her last moments with him and their friends. Serena knew that Anna wasn't dead. She knew that she would be coming back for her. That was what the ultimatum had been about. If Serena willingly went over to Pharaoh's side, her friends would be spared. If she died while in battle, there were no such promises. While Anna hadn't known about Darien's crystal, she could have convinced Pharaoh to not even kill anyone else. Now that it had officially woken up, she didn't think that she would be able to have the same plan.

She could only hope that tonight would distract her from her thoughts until her full plan could be put into action.


End file.
